A Vision in Grey
by glitteratii
Summary: The scene has been set. Friendships have been forged and broken, new lines have been drawn. What was once a noble mission has descended into a million shades of grey. Sequel to A Glint of White! Book 2 of the Monochrome Series. Fem!Allen. Noah!Allen. AU & OOC. Poker Pair. Blatant disregard for canon. ON HIATUS FOR PREQUEL REWRITE.
1. Chapter 1

It was dark out when Ellen, Tyki, and Rhode stepped out of the Ark onto Privet Drive. The street was relatively quiet as most of the inhabitants had retired to their homes for the night.

She wrinkled her nose as she actually took in the place where Harry had been raised. Everything looked the same down to the last little detail. All the houses, the lawns, even the cars were similar. It was like someone had taken a cookie cutter and created the neighborhood to be what they considered to be perfect. Was this really the same place that had created Harry? Something about it just disgusted her.

Number 4 was just how it had been the past summer when Ellen had gone with the Order to retrieve Harry. That had only been a few months, but it felt like it had been a lifetime.

She sighed loudly. "Rhode, go take care of Mundungus."

"No, that's so boring!" Rhode complained, tugging on Ellen's arm. She froze when Tyki looked down at her with a fierce glare, yellow eyes glowing in the dark that surrounded them. With a sigh she turned and walked away, muttering about the unfairness of the whole situation.

Ellen moved her hand over and grasped Tyki's hand. "We have to do this. It's what's best for him."

"I know, _menina_." He squeezed her hand tight. "We must go now or we will lose our chance."

The pair marched up to the front steps of Number 4 Privet Drive, determination written on their faces. Ellen took a deep breath and reached out to knock on the door loudly. She could hear the sound of someone thundering down the stairs before the door swung open.

Standing in front of them was a large boy with blonde hair and watery blue eyes. He had the somewhat haggard appearance of someone who had lost a large amount of weight recently and the way he stood was oddly protective. She could feel him examining her snow white hair and red cursed mark almost fearfully.

"Hello Dudley," She said before he had the chance to introduce himself. "Is your mother home? We need to speak with her."

"Er, yes." Dudley mumbled before turning toward the stairs and shouting. "MUM! THERE'S PEOPLE AT THE DOOR FOR YOU!"

Petunia Dursley hurried down the stairs clutching her dressing gown, her face pale and pinched. Her eyes widened when she laid eyes on Ellen. "Go to bed Diddikins." She cooed at her son, all but slamming the door behind Ellen and Tyki.

She turned back Ellen with fury clearly written across her face. "What are you doing here? I thought you died."

"Oh, Petunia, did you miss me at the train station?" Ellen giggled as she walked into the pristine living room and sat herself down on the plush pink couch. "Besides, it's very hard to kill me. I'm sure you're very disappointed but please, have a seat."

"What do you want?" Petunia scowled but obeyed her. The pair stared at each other until Tyki cleared his throat loudly, snapping Ellen back into action.

Ellen smiled brightly and leaned towards Petunia as if they were old friends. "Tuney, you still do go by Tuney, right? Doesn't matter really, but back to what I wanted to talk about!" Her smile dropped and her eyes became cold. "You see, a little birdie has been telling me all about how you treat our dear Harry. Would you like to explain yourself?"

"That boy is nothing but trouble! He's a freak just like his mother!" Petunia spat out. "Just as strange, just as... abnor-"

It was Ellen's slap that cut Petunia off. She raised a hand to her stinging cheek while Ellen tried to collect herself. "I forgot how impossible it is for you to be civil, so we can skip the niceties. I'm taking Harry with me. You will never see him again."

Petunia sniffed and leaned away. "Good, I never wanted the boy."

"Oh, I know that." Ellen reached over and patted the woman's hand. "And you'll pay for that, but I need you tell me where Harry is."

"He's in his room."

Ellen grinned widely, ignoring the way Petunia winced. "Perfect. Well, come on then Petunia. I can't say that I remember where his room is."

The woman's face somehow became more pinched as she stood to lead them up the stairs, her hands shaking all the while. Petunia led them to the room Harry had been in the summer before then turning as if she was going to leave. Ellen reached out and gripped her arm tightly, her eyes glowing bright yellow. "Oh, I wouldn't do that."

She swung the door open effortlessly and dragged the woman in behind her. Harry's eyes were wide as he took in the sight of Ellen manhandling his aunt, Tyki standing just behind them. The boy's trunk was still sitting in the corner next to his owl's cage. It had only been a few hours since they had departed from King's Cross Station and Harry obviously had not had the time to unpack.

"Good, you haven't unpacked yet!" Ellen chirped as she finally let go of Petunia to hug Harry. "I was so worried that we would have to just pack it all back up. We're on a bit of a time crunch here, so get moving!"

"What are you doing here?" Harry looked at her with the most confused expression.

"We're kidnapping you Potter." Tyki said calmly.

"What!" Harry shouted. "You're doing what?"

Ellen walked over to his luggage and shrunk it, tossing the items in her pocket. "We're kidnapping you. Not that hard to comprehend, really."

He sat down on the bed heavily, staring at her like she was mad. "Do kidnappers usually just say it like that? Aren't you supposed to catch me by surprise and just kidnap me?"

"I dunno," Ellen shrugged. "Never done it before."

Tyki sighed and pushed off the wall. "Enough chit chat. Grab your things Potter, we're leaving."

When Harry did not move he sighed again and opened his hand, letting a large purple butterfly to bloom from his palm. It flapped its wings as it moved to float in front of Harry's face, its razor sharp teeth snapping in the air. "I said move, Potter."

"C'mon Harry," Ellen whined, "Don't make us have to be the bad guys. I'll explain it all later."

The boy reluctantly stood and grabbed his things, holding Hedwig's cage tight against his chest. She mumbled under her breath to open an Ark gate which appeared shining white as ever in the middle of his bedroom.

Ellen opened the doors and gestured dramatically. "Go ahead."

He stepped into the Ark, the Teez hesitated for a moment before fluttering through determined to follow the boy as its master wished it to. Ellen turned back to Petunia with a cold expression. "I never thought you were nice, but I didn't think you would ever be capable of what you've done to him."

Petunia opened her mouth to respond before Ellen silenced her with a speedy flick of her wand. "No talking. Tyki, love, please go handle the boy. A nice blow up fight should do, nothing incriminating."

Her husband nodded before heading down the hall with his wand raised. "What are you going to do to us?" Petunia asked fearfully once Ellen lifted the charm from her.

"I will take everything away from you, just as you did to him." Ellen hissed. "Your riches and luxuries, your reputation, all the things that you have taken for granted. Maybe then you will understand a fraction of what you made Harry feel. I would apologize, but I don't feel bad at all. _Obliviate_."

The spell hit Petunia before the woman could even think to move. Her eyes rolled back into her head and she collapsed roughly onto the floor. Ellen shook her head as she worked at modifying the woman's memories. All Petunia would remember would be a fight with Harry ending with the boy storming out, vowing that he would not come back.

She reached into her pocket and pulled out the note she had forged so carefully in the hospital wing and placed it on Harry's pillow. The play was set and act one was officially beginning.

Tyki walked into the room moments later with a satisfied look on his face. "Are you ready?"

"I think we've got everything. Bye Petunia!" Ellen waved to the unconscious woman with a cackle before stepping through the Ark gate with Tyki.

* * *

They looked up to see Harry standing with Rhode, the former looking extremely uncomfortable. Rhode had one of her favorite blood pops in her mouth, the candy leaving her teeth coated with bright red.

Ellen practically skipped up next to him and grabbed his arm, leading him through the streets. The four of them walked in relative silence, the only sound being Ellen's constant chattering as she pointed out different places in the Ark. Despite the feelings of panic simmering just below the surface, Harry could still appreciate how beautiful Noah's Ark truly was.

The paths that they walked on were a solid cobblestone, little flowers blooming at the eyes. There were fluffy white clouds in a bright blue sky and the breeze was warm and sweet. All of the houses were a brilliant white, little splashes of color here and there. The tower grew closer with each passing step, as did the feeling of dread in Harry's stomach.

They had finally reached the base of the tower when he dug his heels in and looked over at her. "Why are you doing this?"

"Because it's what's best for you." Ellen said firmly. "Albus has allowed himself to grow overconfident in his abilities and his plans. He believes that the blood wards on that house will be enough to protect you, but they won't be. Those awful people never truly accepted you into their home, so the wards never stuck. You would be a walking target in that house. The Ark is the safest place for you right now."

"But what about the Order?" Harry asked, still not moving. "They'll notice that I'm gone."

"That's why we left a note." Rhode piped up, happily licking her blood pop. "You've decided to run away, you can't stay in Britain any longer. It doesn't feel safe. Blah, blah, blah."

"We'll make sure that they really believe it, Potter." Tyki pushed him forward. "There's going to be a few 'Harry Potter sightings'. America, Italy, Japan, France, anywhere with a large enough population that will still recognize the Boy-Who-Lived."

Ellen smiled widely at him. "Don't worry about it though. C'mon, let me show you your room!"

She reached out and grabbed his upper arm and began to drag him up into the large tower, Rhode trailing behind them. He could faintly hear Tyki shout out that he needed to go do something for work but he was quickly pulled away. The three of them began to make the trek up the tower in silence. By the time they had reached the right floor Harry wheezing, his lungs screaming for air and his legs aching. How was it that the Noah seemed so unaffected by the climb?

Rhode looked up at him and scoffed loudly. "We're going to have to get you into much better shape than this."

"Don't be rude, Rhode!" Ellen snapped. "But we're here! Go on in Harry, I hope you like it."

She swung the door open to reveal another brilliant white room. Everything in it was the same blinding color, from the furniture to the curtains on the window to the sheets on his bed. Ellen flounced over to the white dresser and un-shrunk his luggage, his clothes flying onto hangers moments later.

Harry sat down heavily on the bed, trying his best to absorb what had happened in the past fifteen minutes. He had resigned himself to a miserable summer with the Dursley's only to be snatched away only hours after having been home.

A few moments later Ellen settled on the bed next to him with a huff. "You know, you really don't own that much. We'll have to get you some clothes that actually fit."

"I don't care about clothes!" Harry moved away from her. "How are you so okay? Sirius is dead and you're talking about shopping."

The Noah's face dropped and she reached out to wrap her black, scaled hand around his. "Oh, Harry… I promise you this isn't what you think. I can't tell you everything, but I can tell you that Paddy is alive and well."

"What?" He exclaimed, his eyes wide.

Ellen traced the Ark key on Harry's finger, the metal heating where she touched it. "Sirius had a key just as you do. The fool listened to me for the first time ever and he activated it before he fell through the Veil. The Clan has spent the last week getting him settled with fake documentation. We've got him hidden away in the American south until this war is over and we can clear his name."

"You've got to let me see him." Harry insisted, trying to stand up.

"I can't." Ellen shook her head. "If Sirius knows that you're with us then he'll refuse to stay put. His safety is one of our top priorities right now and I won't throw that away. You've just got to trust us Harry. I know I keep saying that, but it's important that you do.

"Then why even take me? Why are you doing this?" He frowned.

She took a deep breath to collect herself before looking at him. "You are going to have to fight Voldemort one day. As of right now, he will kill you. You got very lucky in that graveyard and that's it. Albus will have you believe that you can win a war with _Expelliarmus_ and the power of love, when you can't. Sometimes you have to meet lethal force with the same intent."

Harry frowned even deeper. "You can't actually think I'm going to kill someone."

"Well that's just something that you'll have to get over!" She snapped. "War is an ugly thing. People are going to die and some of them will be by your hand. Unless you would like to die?"

"I'm not a killer!" Harry shouted, shooting up off of the bed. "I'm not going to kill people just because you think it's alright!

"Then you'll have to accept that more people will die. People that we care about. I'm not asking you to murder people, I'm asking you to learn how to defend yourself!" She whipped out her wand and pressed it to Harry's neck, glaring up at him. "How would you defend yourself now? Are you going to hit me with a tickling charm? How do you save yourself?"

He stepped back slowly, staring at her as if he had never seen her before. "I — I don't know."

Her wand gently lowered from his throat as her eyes faded back to silver. Ellen stepped away slowly. "Harry, I've watched so many people that I love die, please don't become one of them."

Harry stumbled back onto the bed and placed his head in his palms. There was so much new information rushing through his mind that he did not know what to do with it. In the matter of hours he had been forced out of Privet Drive onto the Ark, told that Sirius was actually alive, AND been all but informed that it was going to be his job to kill Death Eaters.

Ellen knelt down so that they were face to face. "I know that this is a lot to process, but I would never suggest this unless I thought it was the right thing to do. You know that, don't you?"

"I'm not evil, I can't do those things." Harry said quietly.

She felt a small piece of her heart break for him. "My sweet boy, you are the furthest thing from evil. Men like Tom Riddle, those that kill simply because of their own hatred and intolerance, they are evil. The rest of us simply exist in different shades of grey."

When he just moved away from her, Ellen accepted defeat. She stood up and gently kissed him on the forehead before heading to the door. At the threshold she looked back at him with a tiny smile. "I'll give you a couple hours to get settled. If you try to leave, I'll know. Don't forget that this is my Ark."

She walked out and closed the door behind her, sighing heavily. All she was trying to do was keep Harry safe, why couldn't he see that? She turned to walk back down the stairs, jumping when Rhode was standing behind her. "Bloody hell, you're going to give me a heart attack one day!"

Rhode giggled and intertwined her fingers with Ellen's as they started to head down. "He's not happy about Black, is he?"

"He wants to see Paddy." Ellen huffed. "I understand, I really do, but he just doesn't get that it isn't safe. He doesn't get any of it!"

"You weren't too keen on the idea of killing at first either, Allen." The tiny girl pointed out. "What was that that you used to claim that you wanted to be? 'A destroyer who saves', wasn't it?"

She rolled her eyes sarcastically. "I was fourteen, give me a break."

"And Harry is only fifteen. You've got to use a different tactic on him."

"What do you mean?" Ellen furrowed her brows.

"You've got to ease him into it like we did with you." Rhode explained with a giggle. "Gradually teach him the darker stuff, let him figure out what kind of person he really wants to be. He'll be ready to kill by the end of the summer."

Ellen leaned her head on top of Rhode's, a frown on her face. "Are we evil? The things we've done, does that make us monsters?"

"Of course we're monsters." Rhode laughed. "The world needs monsters though. Without us, no one would be able to see the good in the world."

The two intertwined their fingers as they began the trek down the tower. Ellen held back a deep sigh as she looked down the path they were headed. The greater good be damned, it was the time for monsters to reign.

* * *

 **Aaaand that's the first chapter! I know it's not as long as the ones in A Glint of White but 3000-7000 will be about the average chapter length. I'm going to try to update at least once a month once everything calms down. I live in Houston and while I was lucky, my family's home was destroyed and we're still dealing with the aftermath. There just isn't that much time for writing lately :(**

 **I hope you all enjoyed it and I can't wait to hear your feedback! Don't forget to favorite and review. Love it, like it, hate it, or just want to say hi, all reviews are welcome :)**


	2. Chapter 2

The journey down the tower took both less and more time that Ellen had remembered. Rhode was quiet next to her, preferring to swing their hands back and forth while humming an eerie sounding song to herself. They made their way into the brilliant white sitting room that had served as their headquarters when they were overthrowing the Earl all those years ago.

Tyki was waiting for them, a large book opened on his lap. She cleared her throat forcing him to look up. The smile he gave them was so sweet and genuine that Ellen felt her heart skip a beat before she settled herself in his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Did you get everything you needed?"

"Of course," said Tyki. "And I managed to avoid all of my lovely coworkers on my way out."

"And you flooed the others?"

Her husband chuckled and kissed her cheek. "Yes dear, I did all that you asked. They should be here any moment."

Nerves suddenly coursed through her. What she was about to do was such a huge gamble, and who was to say that they would even be successful? Ellen took a deep breath and steeled herself. It didn't matter if they failed. If they didn't at least try, everything she had done would have been in vain.

It turned out that she din't have that much time to worry anyways. Only a few minutes had passed when the door to the room was kicked open with a bang, Jasdevit slinking their way into the room. Sheril was right behind them, his face oddly tense as he took his seat.

She looked over at the others, a feeling of contentment filling her. Sheril was as proper as ever, not a single hair out of place as he twirled his wand between his fingers. The twins were impossibly intertwined with mischievous smiles on their faces. It had been the first time since the winter holidays that they had all been able to gather together like separate from the Clan was an odd feeling. It was like having a hole in her heart that she didn't notice until it was filled again She almost didn't want to move on with the business that they had to discuss, but sadly it was something they needed to do.

"I'm sure you're all curious as to why I've called this meeting." Ellen started quietly. The twins nodded eagerly while Sheril simply narrowed his eyes and leaned forward, curiosity shining in his eyes.

"In the years we were separated, the Clan of Noah's influence has faded away." began Ellen. "I can remember the time when the single mention of the Clan made people quake in fear. Our reputation was one of power and cruelty, but people respected us. That respect was a huge part of our power. Now? The Noah are nothing more than a story, something to scare children with before bed."

"So what, hii hii~" Jasdero cackled, bouncing an orange on his forehead. "The humans die anyways~"

She gently rubbed the bridge of her nose in slight annoyance. "Because we are about to throw ourselves into another war. It is time that we come out of the shadows. The game needs another player and who better than us?"

Sheril snorted lightly. "So how are we to do this Ellen? As much as I loathe to admit it, the humans are much smarter they were back in our prime. Your precious Vatican made sure that any trace of us was erased from history."

"The Vatican is made up of pious fools." She snapped back at him. "They tried to bury us because they know what we can do and that scares them. It is far past time that we show the world that we are more than just a bedtime story."

"You have yet to explain how we are going to do this, dear sister." Sheril pointed out.

Tyki's fingers tightened around her hips as he felt her tense up. "Ellen, Rhode, and I have discussed this. We feel it would be best if Jasdevit were to transfer over to work for the Ministry of Magic. I hear that they are in need of Aurors in wake of the... _discovery_ of Voldemort's return."

"And," Ellen continued. "We think you should go back into politics, both magical and Muggle. It worked during the Holy War to have eyes on the human's side and it will only help our cause if we can manipulate the Muggles as well."

Sheril hummed and leaned back, looking at them with a thoughtful expression. "So you're serious then? If we do this then there is no turning back. You can't do your little disappearing act again."

She felt a snarl forming on her face as she resisted the urge to lunge for Sheril's throat. With a deep breath Ellen leaned back against Tyki and tried her best to center herself. Ever since she had allowed Neah to overtake her, her mind had become a mess of his thoughts and her own. It was seeking the balance that she had denied it for over two hundred years and it would take time. Not to mention that Neah was an asshole. That was certainly fun to deal with.

Ellen breathed out slowly and looked back up at her brother-in-law. "We've all made mistakes Sheril. That isn't one that I plan on making again."

"Alright, we follow your plan." He shrugged, obviously not looking for the fight that was about to happen. "I'm assuming the Potter boy is part of this plan?"

"Harry is the key to winning this war." She explained. "There is a prophecy about him, he's the one that must kill Voldemort. Sadly, my dear friend Albus decided that the best way to prepare Harry was to keep him completely ignorant about all of this and to just let him go into battle unprepared."

"Allen and I are gonna train him!" Rhode giggled around the blood pop she had pulled out of nowhere. "He needs it too, he's so scrawny."

Ellen smiled despite herself at how excited Rhode sounded. "We're going to need everyone's help at one point. We all have different abilities and I would prefer it if he was more prepared than he needs to be."

The others all nodded in agreement as silence fell over the group. Not a moment later Sheril stretched his arms out and straightened up his tie. "If that's all, I have wife to be getting back to."

"Of course." Ellen grinned. "I'm still waiting on more nieces and nephews~"

He chucked and shook his head as he went to open the Ark gate that opened before him. "Then you need to end this war sooner than later. Jasdero, Devit, we would love to have you in the guest rooms until you find a permanent residence."

"Awesome." Devit nodded and untangled himself from Jasdero. "We'll see you later then Al."

"Hii hii, bye Allen!" Jasdero waved as his twin dragged him through the gate after Sheril, leaving the three alone together.

Everything was quiet for a second before Ellen groaned and launched herself onto the couch. "Why was that so awkward? Were things always that awkward?"

Tyki walked over to her and moved her to a seated position so that he could wrap an arm firmly around her waist. He gently kissed the top of her head and sighed. "He may not show it, but your actions after the Holy War deeply affected Sheril. Your leaving hurt me, he fears that you could leave again."

She cuddled closer to him as tears formed at the corners of her eyes. "I'm so sorry Tyki. I shouldn't have left, I'm sorry."

"It's alright, I love you." He reassured her gently.

"Eww, can we stop with the feelings?" Rhode piped up from across the room, her nose wrinkled in disgust.

Ellen shook her head and laughed. "Are you feeling left out? Come here, Auntie Ellen will show you some love too!"

She regretted saying that a second later when Rhode threw herself across Ellen and Tyki's laps, knocking the wind out of both of them. The tiny girl wrapped and arm around each of their necks and squeezed in the world's tightest hug. Ellen could almost feel herself turning blue when her niece finally released them. Rhode moved to sit in Ellen's lap and wrapped her in a hug.

"I just want us to be a family again." Ellen's voice broke. "Like we were before."

"We will be." Tyki swore to her. "I promise it, _amor_."

"Harry too." She pressed her lips together. "I should have been his family from the beginning. Albus stole fifteen years from us, there's so much to make up…"

Shaking her head, she gently moved Rhode off of her lap and stood. "I should really go bring up some food for him. We still have some in the kitchen?"

Her husband nodded at her before getting up. "There should be some treacle tart, you mentioned that was his favorite. I'm going to get my things from my office but I should be back before you're asleep. Same room as before?"

"Of course." Ellen leaned up and kissed him quickly. "Hurry back, my love."

He waved over his shoulder as he headed to the checkered door leading to his office, leaving Rhode and Ellen alone. Rhode looked over at her and raised a single brow. "I'm not doing all the emotional stuff. You want me to start in on his dreams tonight or do you want to wait?"

Ellen thought for a moment before nodding her head yes. "Let him think that they're normal for staying in the Ark."

She began to walk out of the room, pausing at the door and looking back at Rhode. "Ease him into it, okay?"

"I'll be nice."

* * *

Ellen smiled and closed the door behind Rhode, the sound echoing in the emptiness of the Ark. She let instinct lead her though the vast halls of the Ark to the enormous white kitchen. Staring into it she could see the ghosts of Akuma servants bustling through the kitchen, filling it with laugher. Ellen blinked hard and the vision was gone, leaving her by herself. She shook her head and headed over to the refrigerator, pulling out food and setting a plate for Harry.

With a flick of her wand the food was piping hot and floating behind her effortlessly. She huffed in irritation at the idea of the climb back up the tower, but set off towards his room nonetheless. It only took her a few minutes to make it to his floor without having someone else slowing her down.

Ellen stopped outside his door hesitantly, almost nervous to knock. There was no sound coming from inside the room. With a frown she considered that he might have fallen asleep with all the excitement before she heard a loud sneeze sound.

The door swung open as she walked in. "Bless you~"

Harry jumped the moment she spoke up. He seemed to relax a little bit once he noticed that it was here standing there but he was still slightly tense. Ellen walked over and set the food in front of him on the bed, sitting across from him quietly.

"I couldn't remember which were your favorites so I brought a little bit of everything."

"Thanks." He said quietly as he started picking at his food.

Her hands twisted in her lap as the pair sat in awkward silence. The only sound that filled the room was his fork scraping across the plate every so often as he stubbornly refused to look at her. When he finally set the plate down and pushed it away she made her move.

Ellen reached out and grabbed the hand where the Ark key was resting on his finger. "I know this is a lot to take in, I'm just trying to do what's right."

"Then do the right thing." He grumbled back at her.

"We're not having this argument again." Ellen said firmly. "I told you, I should have been there from the beginning to raise you. We'll never get back the time that we lost but I'll be damned if you are anything less than healthy and safe."

"Fine. We do it your way." Harry bit out. "How long do you plan to keep me here?"

She squeezed his hand quickly. "We'll both be going back to Hogwarts come September. I won't deny you that." He seemed to perk up some at that so Ellen kept going. "But after tomorrow we'll be staying away from England. We're doing a lot of traveling this summer and I expect you to participate."

"Not like I have much of a choice really." He snarked at her.

"Glad to see that you're learning." Ellen reached out and pinched his cheek. "Try to get some rest tonight. We're going to have a very exciting day tomorrow and it won't do to have you dragging your feet."

Harry's eyes narrowed slowly. "Where are we going?"

"Diagon Alley!" She replied. "I told you that we've got to get some new clothes for you. All of your Muggle clothes are all hand me downs, and I don't want you to try to even lie to me and say that you have more than three pairs of school clothes. And we'll need to get you a wand holster and everything else that you're missing, it's a lot to do."

She watched as the fight finally left his body and his shoulders drooped in defeat. He looked up at her through smudged, crooked glasses and asked. "Why are you doing all of this for me?"

"Harry, I love you like you were my own." She slowly reached out and wrapped him in a hug. "You're a good lad and you deserve to be treated better than those awful Muggles were treating you. Those are the kinds of people that make me hate humanity."

"You're human, aren't you?" He pointed out. "I know that you're not a Beast, you're a person."

Ellen laughed softly. "You sound just like Lily. She always got so angry when people wouldn't call me a Being, let me tell you that Fabian and Gideon were on the receiving end of her pepper breath hex many times before they finally learned that lesson."

"What were they like?" Harry asked quietly, leaning against Ellen. She let him go to scoot up next to him and wrap the boy in her arms again. Admittedly, it was a bit difficult to do as Harry was proving to be much larger than Ellen but the intent was still there.

"They were some of the best people I have ever met." Ellen started. "By no means were they perfect, but they were good and kind, and they loved fiercer than anyone else. I'm sure you know that your father was a prankster and he loved Quidditch, but he was so much more than that. James Potter had the most brilliant mind when it came to Transfiguration. The man could spend hours talking to you about different ways to perform a single spell and debate you on the inanimate-to-animate laws. He was the one that taught me how to conjure. And he was a good teacher too. Lily and I used to joke with him that if his career as an Auror didn't work out then he could always replace Minerva when she retired. I think part of him actually considered it too."

"And your mother, god was she one hell of a witch. That woman could whip up a potion faster than anyone else and she had a knack for charms. There was a point where Sirius would never take off that ratty leather jacket when he came in, so Lily charmed the coat rack to chase him until he put the jacket on there. She was such a good mother too. She loved you so much and everything she did was to make sure that you were healthy and happy. Of course, she and James bickered about that constantly because despite what history will tell you, they weren't perfect. Like any couple they had their disagreements but in the end they were always a team. They loved each other and they loved you, and that was all that they needed in life."

She took a deep breath and hugged Harry closer. "They would be so proud of who you've grown up to be."

"You thinks so?"

"Oh Harry," Ellen sighed. "I know so. They would want you to be happy and alive, and that's why I have to do all of this. I won't let you be led like a lamb to the slaughter, if you're going to have to fight in this war you're going to know how to _win_."

He remained silent and she just hugged him for a few minutes. Slowly but surely she felt him start to relax and his breathing began to get slower as he drifted in and out of sleep. Ellen gently nudged him away. "Go ahead and get ready for bed. The Ark will make sure that you're awake tomorrow."

"Er, Ellen? There's not a bathroom in here." Harry pointed out slowly.

Her jaw dropped. "I'm such a bloody ditz, it must have slipped my mind! Here, I'll fix that right away."

With a wave of her hand another door formed inside the room. She concentrated on making it somewhat like the prefect's bathroom that she knew Harry often snuck down to just as to make him more comfortable in his new home. "Alright, that's done. Now I really must say goodnight. I'll see you in the morning."

"G'night Ellen." Harry mumbled out as he headed to the bathroom.

Ellen walked out and shut the door quietly behind her, letting out a deep breath. It was a good thing that Harry had understood what as happening but he still wasn't ready. But, she thought as she started heading up the stairs to her room, with Rhode influencing his dreams it shouldn't be too long before he was safely on their side.

* * *

Her room was a few floors above Harry's, just below the giant open space in the tower that she spent most of her time. Once she had reached the floor she approached the room slowly almost as if she was afraid to open the door. She took a deep breath and pushed the double doors open, her eyes filling with tears as she took it in.

Nothing about the room had changed in the past two hundred years since she had been in it. There was no dust settled anywhere by courtesy of the Ark and everything was exactly where she had left it. Ellen moved around the room like a ghost, running her fingertips across various surfaces. The bed was still rumpled and unmade, her exorcist jacket hanging over the mirror in the corner.

A pair of gloves were sitting on the vanity dresser, a handful of Tyki's old leather hair ties sitting next to them. The room even smelled the same as she remembered, a mix of spicy tobacco and flowers. Sitting in the corner was an empty bassinet with a small baptismal outfit laid out in it. She reached out and picked it up, staring at the delicate lace. It had been a gift from Lenalee when she had first found out about the pregnancy. It was just before the Order had known that Ellen was a Noah and not a single person had known that Tyki was both her husband and father of her child.

The Chinese girl had made it herself knowing that baptism was something important to Ellen back then. She was to be the godmother and it was gong to be okay. Tyki had a gray form that none of them had seen before, it would have been easy to come up with a lie for him. There had been a plan for her life and while it hadn't been perfect, it would have worked and she would have been happy. It was going to be an easy life filled with love and laughter. Sadly, Ellen's life would never be that simple.

"It's never going to be easy." She murmured to herself as she set the gown back to where it was. Solid arms wrapped around her waist, causing her to stiffen for a moment before she realized that it was Tyki. She looked up at him and smiled, pressing a gentle kiss to his lips. "Hey, you."

"Hello yourself," Tyki kissed her again. "I would have thought you'd redecorate. It's quite Victorian."

"That would have required me to set foot in this room since we left it." said Ellen quietly. "I wanted to, it was just…"

"Too painful?" He guessed, pulling her closer when she nodded in confirmation. "I would not have been able to face it alone either. We shared quite a bit in this bedroom."

She smiled up at him with watery eyes. "It's where you first told me that you loved me. We were so young back then, how was everything so complicated?"

"It was a different time. I doubt either one of us expected to live much longer, I know that I didn't." He confessed. "So why waste time pretending? Life was too short not to ask the pretty exorcist to go dancing with me."

Ellen simply kissed him before leaning away and walking over to the dresser that stood on the opposite wall. She yanked it open and immediately wrinkled her nose at the old fashioned clothes that filled it. Out of everything that she missed from her youth, the restricting dresses were not one of them. Ellen grabbed the most comfortable looking nightgown and with one sharp tug, ripped it so that it would fall to the middle of her thighs. She changed quickly, eager to get into bed so that she could get the next day started. There was so much that they had to do and so little time before the Order came looking for Harry.

Her husband was already settled in their bed when she turned back around, his clothes strewn across the floor in a carefree manner. Despite the years that why had been together, she still found herself blushing as she took in everything about him. Tyki really was a beautiful man.

"I know that look," Ellen giggled as she slid into bed next to him. "That look spells trouble and we don't have time for your brand of trouble."

"But," He pulled her close, "You enjoy getting in trouble with me, don't you _menina_?"

She leaned in and kissed him, pulling away before he could deepen the kiss. "I have to take Harry to Diagon Alley tomorrow morning, but tomorrow night we can get in as much trouble as we want, hm?"

"I will hold you to that, _eu te amo_." Tyki wrapped an arm around her and pulled her up against his chest. She sighed in contentment and snuggled closer, allowing a peaceful sleep to fall over her. For just a moment, everything was right in her world.

* * *

 **And here's chapter two! I hope that y'all enjoy it and please review to let me know your thoughts! I want to thank all of you for the well wishes and to update you on everything. My family's home has much less damage than it appeared at first and I think we're going to be alright :)**


	3. Chapter 3

The world was soaked with blood.

Everywhere that he looked, those that he cared for and loved were falling. Harry watched as Ron and Hermione were cut down by a vicious cutting hex, their faces filled with betrayal as they stared at him in shock. He ran towards them but it was like he was moving through water. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't reach them.

A scream echoed through the battlefield, causing Harry to jerk his head to the side. Only a few feet away were Ellen and Voldemort, the latter holding her in the Cruciatus.

"Leave her alone!" Harry shouted, struggling to get to her.

Voldemort looked at him through slitted eyes and laughed, a high pitched cruel sound. "Say goodbye to your dear Noah, Harry Potter. _Avada kedavra_!"

A bright green spell left Voldemort's wand, hitting Ellen in the chest. She looked over at Harry, mouthing something at him before the light left her gray eyes…

"NO!" Harry shouted, sitting up abruptly. He blinked in confusion at the unfamiliar white room around him before everything came back to him. A sense of relief flooded him. "It was just a dream…"

"What was just a dream?"

Harry jumped, pulling a laugh out of Ellen. The blurry Noah looked like she smiled down at him and handed him his glasses, the world coming into focus. "That's better. Are you alright? I thought I heard shouting."

"Just a bad dream." said Harry, catching his breath still. "Nothing to worry about."

Even though her eyes were still filled with concern, Ellen smiled and headed towards his closet. "Good. Now go shower while I find something decent for you to wear."

Too tired to argue with her, Harry climbed out of bed and headed into the bathroom. He stripped quickly and stepped into the shower, the water steaming hot the second that he turned it on. For a minute Harry just allowed the warm water to roll over him, washing away the feelings from his nightmare.

Despite the warmth, Harry shuddered. It had felt so real. He could still smell the battlefield, the blood and sweat lingering. And seeing everyone dying like that, even Ellen… Something about the dream shook him deeper than any nightmare that he had ever experienced. Shaking his head, he forced those thoughts away. He could dwell on it another day

Harry set to washing up, hearing the sounds of Ellen rooting around in his room. Everything about the past twenty-four hours had been so surreal. It had been everything that he had dreamed of since he was a child. Someone to just show up at Privet Drive and whisk him away to a life full of love and happiness.

He stepped out of the shower and dried himself off, wrapping the towel that appeared around his waist before sticking his head out of the door. "Er, Ellen? I need to get dressed."

"Here, put this on." Ellen shoved an outfit into his arms. "And for God's sake, do something with that hair! If James could tame it, so can you!"

Laughter bubbled out of him as he quickly got dressed, examining himself in the mirror. Ellen had picked a very wizardly outfit, something that he suspected had quite a bit of conjuring involved if he were to go by the uneven seams and loose buttons. There was a simple muggle outfit, just a t-shirt and jeans but it was covered by the navy blue wizard's robe and matching hat that she had included. He ran his fingers through his hair trying to tame it, giving up a few seconds later.

"Why does my hair have to look good? You gave me a hat!" said Harry as he walked out to where Ellen was sitting on his newly made up bed.

She sighed like he didn't understand her. "Because we're going to be in Muggle areas too, you dolt. Shopkeepers in New York City will ignore you if you walk in looking like you've never seen a hairbrush."

"Fine," He replied stubbornly. "Then you fix it."

Judging by the gleam in Ellen's eyes, that was the wrong answer. Somehow Harry found himself all but strapped to a chair in the bathroom while Ellen worked massive amounts of Sleekeazy into his hair. She was muttering under her breath the whole time, only taking breaks to glare at his hair as if it had caused some great personal offense to her.

It must have been an hour later when she finally stepped away. Harry had to admit, his hair did look nice for once. It was still wavy but in a very controlled manner and he could see his face clearly. Ellen placed his wizard's hat on his head carefully, as to not disturb her masterpiece.

She smiled at him but he could see the tears filling her eyes before she hastily blinked them away. "You've grown up so much, so fast."

Harry didn't know what to say, so he just remained silent while Ellen composed herself. The Noah shook her head before pulling out her wand, muttering to herself and moving it in complicated motions. He watched as her white hair slowly faded back to the brown that he was so familiar with, her scar vanishing as well. It took a few minutes, but she was the Ellen that he knew once more.

Sticking her wand back in its holster, Ellen motioned for him to stand. "We've got quite a few stops to make, so we best get moving. And grab your invisibility cloak! We'll need it."

"I thought the point was for me to be seen?" asked Harry as he pulled the cloak out of the closet. Ellen laughed loudly, the sound jarring in the empty room.

"It won't do for people to see you and I together. That would ruin the entire narrative, you know?" Ellen draped the cloak over her shoulder and led him out of the room and up the stairs to the atrium that she had taken him to the first time that he was on the Ark.

Ellen waved her hand and a gate rose from the ground. It didn't matter how many times she had done this in front of him, Harry was always amazed by the sheer control that she had over her power. She grinned at him before sliding the cloak over her shoulders, vanishing from sight.

He felt her poke him in the back to get him moving through the gate. "We'll be exiting into an alley right outside the Leaky Cauldron. It's still in Muggle London so be careful."

Shaking his head, Harry pulled the door to the gate open and stepped out into rainy London. Ellen hadn't lied to him as the gate was resting in a smelly, wet alleyway. A groan rose in his throat when he stepped into a dirty puddle but the nasty feeling vanished almost instantly. He must have made some sort of face because Ellen suddenly started giggling.

"It's called magic," Ellen whispered teasingly. "Now get moving, we've got a lot to do."

Although he felt quite ridiculous talking to thin air, Harry replied. "Where are we even going?"

"Leaky Cauldron. You're going to buy a butterbeer and make some conversation with grumpy old Tom." murmured Ellen as they exited the alley. "And do try to look sad, you're supposed to be a runaway."

Despite its fame in the Wizarding World, the Leaky Cauldron did not look like much. It was dark and shabby with a healthy amount of wear and tear. Harry looked around, noting a few old women sitting in a corner, drinking tiny glasses of sherry. One of them was smoking a long pipe. A stout, middle aged man was nursing a glass of firewhisky at the bar and talking to Tom. He made his way over to the bar, Ellen trailing behind him the whole time.

Harry pulled out a bar stool and sat himself down, looking at the counter with the most down-trodden expression that he could summon. It was only a few minutes before Tom was tapping on the wood in front of him to get his attention. "What'll you be having, lad?"

"One butterbeer." Harry murmured, sliding over two sickles. The barkeeper shrugged and grabbed the coins, placing a warm butterbeer in front of the boy a few moments later.

He leaned against the bar in front of Harry. "Tell me, what's got you Mr. Potter?"

"I though everyone knew thanks to the Prophet." Harry said somewhat bitterly, causing Ellen to squeeze his shoulder lightly. She knew how much that particular newspaper had tormented her godson and she only wished that she could take that hurt away.

"Ah, great load o' rubbish, that's what that paper is." Tom shook his head. "I'd rather hear it in your own words."

Harry was taken aback for a moment, his mask breaking to betray his shock. "S-Sirius is gone. And no one believed him until it was too late. He was a good, honest man who would never have betrayed anyone. Everyone knew this and they still let him suffer."

It kept coming and before Harry knew it, he was pouring his heart out to Tom. For the first time in months, someone wanted to hear what he had to say without any kind of motive, agenda, or preconceived notion about what was right or wrong. All that mattered was what Harry had to say. Tom nodded along the whole time, interjecting when it was appropriate but for the most part he just listened.

When Harry was done, he felt Ellen tap his shoulder twice signaling that it was time for him to move on. He drained the rest of his drink in one go, giving Tom a tight smile. "Thank you."

What he was thanking him for was still unknown, but Harry felt lighter as he walked away from the bar and towards the entrance to Diagon Alley. He couldn't see her but he knew that Ellen was close to him. It was kind of unnerving, having someone so close but not being able to acknowledge them in any way.

"Go to Gringotts." Ellen whispered in his ear. "Pull out however much you think you'll need."

Harry moved quickly through Diagon Alley, trying to keep his head down and avoid getting separated from Ellen. Still he felt awkward pushing through everyone, all but running up to the doors of Gringotts.

A pair of goblins bowed him through the silver doors and they were in a vast marble hall. About a hundred more goblins were sitting on high stools behind a long counter, scribbling in large ledgers, weighing coins in brass scales, examining precious stones through eyeglasses. There were too many doors to count leading off the hall, and yet more goblins were showing people in and out of

Harry immediately made for the counter, the goblin in front of him sneering. "Er, morning. I'm here to get some money out of my safe?"

"Do you have your key, sir?" The goblin questioned, looking as if it wanted nothing more than to be free of Harry. The boy panicked for a moment before he felt Ellen slide a cold key into his hand.

"Right here." said Harry, holding up the tiny golden key.

The goblin looked at it closely. "That seems to be in order."

"Very well," he said, handing it back to Harry, "I will have someone take you down to the vault. Ragnok!"

While the other goblin approached, Ellen gripped his wrist tightly and spoke into his ear. "The pouch is in your right pocket. I'll be waiting for you by the left pillar outside, so don't do anything stupid."

Harry followed Ragnok toward one of the doors leading off the hall. Ragnok held the door open for him, leading him through the narrow stone passageway. The goblin whistled loudly when they reached the bottom, a cart speeding up to join them.

They climbed in and were off without so much as a second glance. The ride was still as twisting and ridiculously fast as Harry remembered it to be. He allowed his mind to wander while they hurtled through the maze of twisting passages. The rattling cart seemed to know its own way, because Ragnok wasn't steering. The cold underground air rushed against his face, making him feel more awake than he had in days.

It was a few minutes later that the cart came to a screeching halt, the goblin jumping out quickly and walking to the door of his vault. Ragnok gently ran one finger down the center of the door; it opened with a great deal of green smoke, slowly revealing the mounds of coins that made up Harry's vault.

He fumbled with the bag in his pocket for a moment before heading to the nearest pile of galleons. He was unsure how much would actually fit, but if he was going to run away then he would need a lot of money, right? He began stuffing galleons into the pouch by the handful until the stack he was standing before was totally gone.

Ragnok led him back to the cart as soon as he told the goblin that he was finished. One wild cart ride later he stood blinking in the sunlight outside Gringotts. Harry didn't know what Ellen wanted him to do now that he had a bag full of money.

"Harry, love, get over here!" hissed Ellen from where she was leaning against a pillar. Without a second thought he obeyed her, a sharp thrill running through the Noah when she realized that.

Harry leaned next to her, trying to look casual. "Where now?"

"Madam Malkin's." Ellen replied much to his dismay. "You need proper wizarding clothes, don't start with me."

The tiny Noah grabbed him by the wrist once more and began to drag him through the crowds of Diagon Alley. He was all but running to keep up with her quick pace, apologizing to everyone that he bumped into along the way. They made it to the shop in second time before Ellen shoved him inside.

* * *

Madam Malkin was just as he remembered, a squat, smiling witch dressed all in mauve. She smiled up at him from where she was fitting another wizard, the man prattling on about some Ministry business. "What do you need, dear?"

"You want five sets of Hogwarts robes, two good winter robes, one set of dress robes, and 10 casual robes in neutral colors." Ellen instructed him.

He parroted back what Ellen had just told him, embarrassment rushing through him when the other wizard eyed him curiously. Madam Malkin stood Harry on a stool next to him, slipped a long robe over his head, and began to pin it to the right length.

"Hello," said the man, "Nice day we're having, isn't it?"

"Yes," said Harry.

"I will say it's been a rather slow day though," said the man. He had a bored, drawling voice. "Everything at the Ministry has been backed up since the whole mess with that Black fellow. I mean, can you believe that he was actually innocent? I could have sworn the man was touched."

Harry was strongly reminded of Uncle

"Though I suppose someone like you wouldn't have heard much about it " The man went on.

"Not at all," Harry replied, desperately looking for a reason to get out of the conversation.

"Let me be the first to tell you, Black could have avoided all this nonsense if he'd just been straight with the Ministry from the beginning." He prattled on. "None of this hiding away business."

"Mmm," said Harry.

The man opened his mouth to let forth another unwarranted opinion when he yelped loudly. Harry looked over to see a patch of blood pooling where a needle had been poked into the man's arm. It didn't take a genius to figure that it had been Ellen that stabbed him. It was the man's fault, Harry thought to himself, he shouldn't have run his mouth like that.

"Ouch!" The man bellowed, slapping Madam Malkin's hand away when she went to help. "Watch where you're putting your pins, woman! I don't think I want these anymore —"

He pulled the robes over his head and threw them onto the floor at Madam Malkin's feet. And with that, he strode out of the shop, taking care to slam the door as hard as he could on the way out.

"Well, really!" said Madam Malkin, snatching up the fallen robes and moving the tip of her wand over them like a vacuum cleaner, so that it removed all the

The seamstress was quiet all through the fitting of Harry's new robes, stealing glances up at Harry when she thought that he wasn't looking. It seemed that she didn't want to address the Sirius-shaped elephant in the room, so to speak. His fitting flew by and when she finally bowed him out of the shop it was with an air of being glad to see the back of him.

Harry fled the shop quickly, the multitude of robes hastily shoved over his forearm. He made a beeline for the nearest alleyway, sighing in relief when Ellen pulled off the cloak and revealed herself.

"So the great Boy-Who-Lived's greatest fear is clothes shopping?" teased Ellen. "I'll have to remember that."

"Whatever," Harry grumbled. "Where are we going next?"

"A dear friend of mine runs a shop in Manhattan," She rambled as she took the robes from him and shoved them into the small bag hanging at her side. "She's sweet lady, has a daughter around your age too. I haven't seen her since I came back to England so I thought it would be a good opportunity to catch up."

Ellen kept talking as she layered charms over the area they were standing in. Before long the entrance to the alley was covered in a haze, the sounds from Diagon Alley muffled completely. Harry could see people looking over towards them but their eyes seemed to go right over them.

"Alright, get changed! The charms won't hold forever." With that, Ellen began to get dressed herself. She pulled a whole outfit out of that tiny bag of hers, turning around so that she didn't have to face him. Harry shrugged off the cloak and hat that Ellen had forced him into. He smoothed down his clothes self consciously and stared at the wall until he was sure that she was done

Harry handed over the clothes to her and she shoved them into the bag haphazardly. He wouldn't be surprised if they came undone while they were in there. It only took a few moments for her to open up an Ark gate and before he knew it they were in yet another alleyway.

* * *

This one was much different from the last too. The air reeked of old garbage and substances that he didn't want to think about, the sound of horns honking and people talking loudly reaching his ears. Looking out, he could see a man sleeping next to the dumpster, a thin blanket all that was covering him.

Ellen took a hold of his arm gently, shaking her head at his expression. "We can't save everyone. All we can do is try to make the world better."

"But.." started Harry, but she was dragging him away before he could say anything else. The city was like nothing that he had ever seen before. There were people bustling around everywhere, brightly colored graffiti on the walls of buildings. He wanted to stop and actually look at everything but Ellen was pulling him along at the same fast pace as everyone else.

They walked in silence for a few minutes before Ellen directed them to a storefront. "Irene and her daughter are Muggles, understand? I just got guardianship of you. If anyone asks, you go to Gagwilde Academy for the Gifted in Scotland." She squeezed his arm tightly, her eyes sharp. "These are good people, Harry. Remember that."

Ellen did not give him the chance to reply before she was shoving them into the store. A loud squeal came from the other side of the room as a girl with dark, curly hair came running towards them. She jumped on Ellen, hugging her tightly. He stood there awkwardly as the two embraced, not sure what he was supposed to do. Ellen finally pulled away from the girl with a big smile. "Amanda, love, you've grown so much! You're taller than me!"

The girl now known as Amanda just gave her a brilliant smile. "Why didn't you call? Mom would've closed up early if she'd known."

"That is exactly why I didn't call." Ellen teased. "Now, where is that mother of yours? She's not working too hard, is she?"

"Mom's in the back, I'll go get her. Don't go anywhere!" Amanda took off again, leaving them standing there alone.

The Noah shrugged and started walking towards some of the men's clothes, Harry following close behind. She started sifting through the racks, holding some of the clothes up against him to see how they would look on him. Minutes passed before he heard someone call Ellen's name.

An older woman was heading towards them, Amanda following behind. It was obvious that they were mother and daughter just by looking at them. They had the same curly hair and huge brown eyes, though the woman had blonde hair instead of Amanda's black curls. He watched Ellen's face light up when she saw the woman, hugging her as well.

"Irene, it's been so long!" Ellen grinned widely. "How is everything?"

"Nothing ever changes, but you already knew that." replied Irene. "Now tell me, who is this young man?"

She laughed and pulled Harry towards them. "This is Harry, he's living with me for the foreseeable future. Harry, this is Irene Parker and her daughter Amanda. They took me in when I first moved to the city."

Irene laughed warmly, her curls bouncing wildly as she did. "Poor thing was so lost that I couldn't have lived with myself if I had just left her there in the street. She was a lovely addition to the family, and one hell of a worker too."

Harry watched Ellen blush a pretty pink. "It was the least I could do to thank you for everything."  
"Bah, think nothing of it dear." Irene waved her off. "I know you didn't come here just to chat about the good old days. What are you here for?"

"Harry's previous guardians didn't allow him to leave with much, unfortunately." Ellen confessed. "We've already gotten his school uniforms but I'm afraid I don't know much about how teenage boys dress these days."

Irene gasped loudly. "You poor dear, we'll get you all sorted out. Amanda, why don't you help Harry find a few good outfits."

For reasons that Harry could not understand, Amanda turned bright red. The younger girl looked like she was going to protest before a sharp look from her mother shut that down. Ellen watched the two of them walk off towards the jeans, leaving Ellen and Irene alone. For a second Ellen thought that Irene was going to let everything go until she felt the woman grasp her wrist.

She looked up to see Irene's usually jovial face twisted into a frown. Ellen sighed deeply. "Ask your questions, I know you have plenty."

"Not out here." Irene hissed, leading them towards the back of the store. She led Ellen all the way to her small office, closing the door firmly behind them. "What is going on Ellen? You just up and left one day and now you're back with a child?"

Ellen rolled her eyes. "Harry is almost sixteen. That's far from a child."

"You were that age when we took you in!" Irene argued. "Are you going to keep stalling or are you going to tell me what the hell is happening?"

She sighed again, waiting a few moments to reply while she got her story straight. "Harry is the son of the first family that took me in after everything. I got a letter from his case worker last year that they had discovered signs of abuse in the home he was living in. It was in Lily and James's will that I was to take him once I came of age, but it took them a while to find me. I've been fighting for custody for the past year and we just won it."

"You couldn't call? You couldn't write?" said Irene angrily. "We didn't know if you were alive or dead! Amanda cried for months thinking that something had happened to you. You damn near gave Elliot a heart attack came home to that letter!"

"I'm sorry, okay?" Ellen cried out. "I was a bloody idiot to not tell you to your faces. But you have to believe me when I say that there wasn't time for that. Harry needed me, I couldn't just leave him again. I made that mistake when I left England and it isn't one that I ever wanted to repeat."

Irene's eyes softened. "You've got such a kind heart, I can't hold that against you. Still, you could have written. You've been a part of our family for the past five years."

"I know, but I've made a family of my own back in England." admitted Ellen. "I've got a husband now and Harry is the closest thing I'll have to a son for a long time."

She watched Irene lean back with a curious look on her face and resisted the urge to smirk. She had laid out the bait and it looked like her old friend had bought it hook, line, and sinker.

Humans were just too easy.

* * *

Meanwhile, Harry was standing somewhat awkwardly next to Amanda as she chattered away about memories with Ellen. It was funny hearing about the usually serious Noah acting so… _human_ for once.

And it wasn't that uncomfortable being around Amanda either. She talked a lot, but it was more to make him feel comfortable than just to fill the silence. There was a genuine sense of kindness that just seemed to radiate out of the her.

She turned back to him with a dimpled smile. "I forgot to ask you, how do you know Ellen anyways?"

"Oh," He said somewhat awkwardly. "She knew my parents and when she came back to England we met. I guess she's my guardian now?"

Amanda simply giggled at his awkwardness, somehow lifting his mood. "She's always been a very caring person. She started staying with us when I was eleven but she seemed so much older than us, even though she was the same age as I am now."

"How did you meet her?" Harry blurted out.

"She just showed up outside the shop one day. It was snowing but she didn't have a jacket or anything! Mom brought her inside for some coffee and the next thing I know, she was living in our spare room and working in the shop. Ellen just became family." Amanda shrugged and grabbed another shirt off of the rack. "Does it get too cold in your part of England?"

Harry blinked in confusion. "What?"

"Does it get cold?" She laughed. "I don't want you to leave with clothes that you can't even wear. That'd be pretty shitty of me."

Harry felt himself grin at her carefree honesty. "Yeah, it can be right nippy once the snow falls."

Something about that made Amanda burst into laughter, her eyes crinkled and her hair bouncing in time with her shaking shoulders. It suddenly hit Harry how pretty the girl in front of him was. Her skin was dark and clear, her black curls coiled in a halo around her head. Her grin revealed straight white teeth with the tiniest gap between her front teeth, but that only made her cuter. Her laughter died down eventually and her cheeks flushed a pretty red when she noticed his stare. She bit her lip and looked up at him with huge eyes. "Does Ellen let you have pen-pals or anything like that? I know she's pretty anti-technology."

"Erm, I don't really live with Ellen for most of the year." explained Harry. "I actually go to a boarding school over in Scotland. But they let us write letters to home, I'm sure a pen-pal would be okay."

Amanda beamed up at him. "Excellent. I don't know what it is about you Harry Potter, but I have a feeling that we are going to be very good friends."

Before he could respond, she turned and started pulling clothes off the rack again. "We're going to be friends," Amanda repeated, "And I refuse to let any friend of mine walk around wearing ill-fitting clothes."

He chuckled to himself and allowed the girl to practically throw clothes at him, if only to keep seeing that smile on her face.

They must have continued on for an hour until Ellen and Irene came out from the back of the store. Irene's eyes were red and puffy, and even Ellen looked affected on the surface. It was only the fact that Harry really knew her that he was able to see past the surface and notice the calculating gleam in her eyes. She had just done something, Harry was sure of it.

Ellen smiled sweetly at the pair of teens. "What have you two been getting up to?"

"Amanda helped me find lots of clothes?" Harry cringed at the way her smile morphed into a smirk.

"Harry's been so nice, you really should have introduced him to us sooner!" Amanda said quickly. "We're going to be pen-pals."

"Oh really?" Ellen quirked her brow as her smirk widened. "I'm glad you're getting along."

The girl huffed playfully. "I couldn't help it. Did you know that Harry doesn't know a single thing about baseball? Someone has to be there to educate him on the finer points of life."

"Well, we'll just have to come back so Harry can experience the 'Amanda School of Baseball' first hand."

Harry slowly felt his face reddening as they talked. The twinkle in Ellen's eye grew more and more dangerous until he cut in, unable to take it. "We should probably get going, shouldn't we Ellen?" The Noah looked at him in amusement. "As loathe as I am to admit it, Harry is right. We're going further upstate to settle some affairs and it's going to be quite the drive."

Amanda looked glum as she and her mother brought all of the items to the front, keeping quiet the entire time they were checking out and through their goodbyes as well.

Harry and Ellen left the shop with their arms full of bags, the former feeling somewhat disappointed. He'd forgotten to get Amanda's address and who knew how long it would be until they returned to New York. Luckily, his disappointment was short lived as he came to a student stop when he heard should his name.

Amanda came running out of the shop with something clutched in her tiny hand, stopping in front of him with flushed cheeks. "I forgot to give you this. You better write to me Harry Potter, or I'm going to be pissed."

He took the paper from her quickly and shoved it into his pocket for safekeeping. "I'll write, I promise."

"Good." She nodded to herself. They stood there in silence for a moment before she surged up on her toes and pressed a kiss to his cheek.

His hand came up to brush against the spot her lips had been while she stepped away with an even deeper blush. "Goodbye Harry."

"Bye…" She ran back into the shop, leaving him standing alone on the sidewalk with Ellen. Harry could feel the smirk that the Noah was sending him and turned red in embarrassment. "Don't even start."

The Noah cackled loudly and ruffled his hair. "Oh, Rhode is going to enjoy this. C'mon lover boy, we've still got a lot to get done today."

Harry huffed to himself but couldn't stop the smile from spreading across his face as they walked back into the alley and stepped into the Ark gate. He felt free, Harry realized with a start. He was a captive yet he felt freer than he ever had in his life. If this was what being captive was like, he never wanted to go back.

* * *

 **Here's chapter 3! I hope you all liked it! These past two have been more of filler chapter as I'm trying to prevent having 10,000 word chapters again so please do forgive me! I'm hoping to have the next chapter out in about two weeks!**

 **Please, please, PLEASE remember to review! It can be just a few words, but it means the world to me when y'all actually let me know what you're thinking. It's very discouraging to write something and get little to no reviews on it :(**


	4. Chapter 4

Ellen hadn't been joking when she had told Harry that they had a lot of places to get to. It seemed like every time they crossed one thing off of their list, three more popped up to replace it. By the time the day was over they had gotten him more clothes than he could ever imagine wearing, new glasses with plenty extra pairs to spare, Quidditch gear and broom polish, a new haircut, and an absurd number of hygienic items that the Americans insisted that he needed. By the time he collapsed into his massive bed that night, he was tired but still happy. For just a moment he could really see the Ark becoming like a home.

For just a moment, he indulged himself in that fantasy. He could see himself spending days with Ellen and Rhode, exploring parts of the world that were only an Ark gate away. He saw laughter and happiness like he hd only known at Hogwarts. The Clan truly was a giant, twisted family and some part of him wished that he could be a part of it.

But the Ark hadn't been the first place that he'd hoped could be like a home to him only to be disappointed in the end. The Weasley family had been kind to him, Harry thought to himself. There was no doubt about that, but he still felt like an outsider at times. They had all grown up with magic and didn't really seem to realize how amazing magic was because of that. It was just a part of life for them.

Ellen wasn't like that. She hadn't told him very much about her past, but something about her told him that their lives had been more similar than she liked to let on.

It was odd. As close as he felt to Ellen, there was still so much that he didn't know about her. But was it any of his business to know? She'd done so much for him while asking for very little in return. All she really wanted was for him to trust her.

Part of him need to know thought. Since the incident at the Ministry, there had been a shift in her personality. She was different than she had been during the past year. There was something more quietly confident about her, but there was a darker air that seemed to surround her at the same time. The entire time he had known her, she always looked so sad. Even when everything seemed to be going the way that she wanted there was still that mournful look in her eyes. Was it possible for her to change to much in such a short amount of time?

She had been so distant during those weeks she was trapped in the hospital wing. Every time he had come to see her and the others, one of the other Noah was by her side, staring at him with those sickly yellow eyes. She'd looked so fragile, dressed all in white with her equally white hair spread out on her pillow like a halo. She was paler than before, the only colorful part of her being the blood red scar grotesquely cutting through her face and her scaled black arm. Something about her had been so unsettling and strange.

Seeing her in the hospital had been the first time that Harry really understood that she was one of the Noah. The girl sitting there just was not the same as they were. She might have acted like them and mingled with them as if she was one of them, but there was something dirt old about her. She was otherworldly. Even the language that she had spoken to the other members of the Clan had been unlike anything that he'd heard before, ancient sounding and songlike. Something about it set them apart as distinctly _other_. It had made him wonder what kind of creatures that the Noah truly were. Where did they come from? Why were they there? Who were these people that they were putting so much trust in?

Harry was pulled out of his thoughts by a loud knock on his door. A frown crossed his face, Ellen hadn't said anything about visiting him that night. Before he even had the chance to move to see who was intruding on his private time, the heavy door swung open with a thud. It was Rhode's mischievous face poking into the doorframe that made him let out the tensed breath he hadn't noticed that he was holding.

"I swear, this makes me miss those stupid akuma." Rhode complained, swinging a heavy tray down on the bed before him. "Now we have to do all of the grunt work."

He just stared at her in disbelief before shaking his head. The tray she brought was covered with food, more than the two of them could possibly eat. Still, he was hungry and found himself reaching for one of the overfilled plates. The two of them ate in silence for a while, only the sound of their forks scraping against the plates filling the air. Harry set down his plate gently and reached for desert without a second thought.

"So tell me," said Harry between bites. "What's that akuma thing you lot keep mentioning?"

Rhode giggled loudly, an odd gleam in her yellow eyes. "Back in the days when the Clan was in power, we had an army. They were poor, miserable souls that thought their grief was so powerful that they could cheat death to bring their loved ones back from the grave. As punishment for their arrogance, the Earl would turn them into akuma and they became anything that we needed to be. Soldier, maids, cooks, servants, it didn't matter."

"Oh," Harry took a quick bite and swallowed. "What happened to them?"

"When Allen killed the Earl, they all self-destructed. We still have the Akuma Egg, but Allen won't let us make any more," Rhode pouted. "Crazy old Adam just _had_ to curse her so that she could see their dear suffering souls."

"She can see souls?"

Rhode grinned and leaned back against the bed frame. "It's that nasty little eye of hers. Y'know, glows red, a monocle shows up? Let me tell you, it was so annoying back when we were fighting on different sides."

He stilled when he realized what Rhode was talking about. The night of the battle at the Ministry, the Ark, Neah, that sword passing through him effortlessly, the ripping feeling in his forehead. The words spilled out of him before he could even think to stop them. "Rhode…Do you know what the Sword of Exorcism is?"

The mood in the room shifted dramatically. Rhode's eyes hardened and she leaned towards him slowly. Every nerve in his body was screaming at him to run, that he was her prey. But he would not, no, could not move. "Where," She asked quietly. "Did you hear of that?"

Harry felt himself swallow nervously before answering. "Ellen used it on me that night at the Ministry. When we got on the Ark there was some man waiting for us, she called him Neah? But I thought that she was Neah…"

"Neah was here?" She asked quietly, her hands gripping the tray so tightly that he could see the metal starting to bend. "What did he do Harry?"

"He, erm, told her to look at me with her eye." Said Harry. "It was weird, she got all quiet and he kept whispering to her. Neah gave her that sword and she told me 'Crown Clown only harms that which is evil' before she just swung it at me. It felt like my head had been ripped in two. There was so much blood…"

Rhode leaned towards him with a mad gleam in her eye. "So she's the Crowned Clown again, is she? Just when I thought we'd moved past her little need to save the world."

She giggled to herself and started putting the plates back onto the mangled tray. A hush fell over them and Harry found himself unwilling to break it. She lifted the heavy tray with no great deal of effort before yanking the door back open. Pausing at the door jamb, Rhode looked back at him with glowing yellow eyes. "Harry?"

"Yes?"

"Don't keep asking questions. If you continue digging like this, you're not going to like what you find."

The slamming door somehow blew out every candle but the one sitting on his bedside table. Harry stared into the dying flame and not for the first time in his life, wondered what in the hell he was actually getting himself into.

* * *

After his little talk with Rhode, Harry found himself drifting off to sleep. It had been a long day and once he had managed to sit still, he realized how tired he truly was. While he had hoped to not repeat the nightmares of the night before, he shot up out of bed just a few yours later. The soft white room seemed to glow around him as he slid out of the bed without a sound. It was almost like something was possessing him.

He allowed his feet to carry him down the seemingly endless stairs, past the dining room, past the foyer and the great atrium. He walked away from the towering building up to the entrance of the garden that surrounded it. It was eerily quiet outside, Harry noted. There was no quiet rustling of the leaves in the wind or the chirping and buzzing of bugs hiding amongst the plants.

Everything was quiet and everything was still.

Harry stepped into the garden, the dry grass rustling beneath his feet. there was a well-worn path that led through the garden that he followed without a second thought. All of the flowers and plants surrounding him were huge and perfectly in bloom as if they had been designed that way. Harry walked along the path quietly, almost afraid that any noise would surely break the spell that seemed to rest on the garden. At long last, the trail took him to a clearing lit by the full moon shining up in the sky. He wondered, was it always full or did the Ark control that too?

It was bare in comparison to the lush gardens he had seen on his way to the clearing, yet something about it felt sacred. It felt holy. He approached the giant apple tree at the center of the clearing, kneeling to brush his fingers against the stones that rested at the foot of the trunk.

"Mana Walker," Harry breathed, "Nicholas Walker..."

A soft snort sounded from behind him, causing him to jump. Tyki shook his head and approached the boy quietly. "Allen won't be happy that you're here."

"Who are they?" asked Harry.

The Noah smiled tightly and pressed his palm against Nicholas's stone. "Nicholas...he was our son, our baby boy. He was taken from us far too soon"

"And Mana?"

"Mana was a complicated man. He wore many faces, just as Allen has," said Tyki, "He was Mana, he was Neah, he was Adam, he was the Millennium Earl. But most importantly, he was Allen's father."

"She...she never told me"

Tyki sighed deeply and settled down next to him. "I don't think she ever planned to. My Allen has always had an excellent poker face and she plays her cards close to her chest. It's all very complicated. She loved Mana as any child loves their father, but she hated the Earl. It has always been a point of confusion for her."

The boy just nodded in response. The pair stayed there for what could have been five minutes or five hours, Harry wasn't sure. All he knew was that he was caught up in the magic of the garden that surrounded him. The longer he stayed there, the more it seemed to glow with some kind of energy.

As the sun began to rise, he saw blooms forming in the tree. Apples sprouted from the blooms within mere minutes. They were large and a deep red color, tempting beyond all belief. It was mesmerizing. Harry went to pick one of the apples but Tyki grabbed him by the wrist and shook his head. "You should know better than that."

Harry just frowned. "Why?"

"Oh, Harry," chuckled Tyki, "Haven't you realized where you are?"

He looked around the garden once more. It didn't look like anything special. Sure, it was magical and all the plants were beautiful but there wasn't much else to it. "It's just a garden."

Tyki's chuckle morphed into a full-blown laugh at that statement. "This is the Garden of Eden. One bite of that apple and you'll be thrown from grace, never allowed back into this paradise."

"What?" Harry's mouth dropped. "I thought that was just a story?"

"When Adam and Eve committed the first sin, God cast them out of the garden and forbid them from returning. For years Eden was a place that no human could set foot in, it was a beautiful yet unattainable place. Many tried to model their cities and homes after the beauty of Eden, but it could never be reached." said Tyki quietly. "That was until God decided to flood the world. Eden was his perfect creation, his heaven on earth. To save it, he cast it deep into the center of Noah's Ark where it would remain for all of eternity. Only Noah and his memories were able to enter, with a select few humans being allowed inside. I wonder what makes you so special..."

Tyki reached up and plucked an apple from the tree and held it out to Harry, looking very much like the snake that led to Eve's ruin. "I wonder, are you a sign that God has forgiven humanity? Or did you simply slip through the cracks?"

He tossed the apple to Harry who caught it with two hands, holding it close to his chest. The Noah breezed past him and stopped at the edge of the clearing. "Leave the apple, taking that with you wouldn't be a very _wise_ decision."

Harry watched him walk away with the rising sun before looking down at the bright red apple in his hands. It was temptation incarnate and all he wanted to do was take a _bite_ out of the delicious looking fruit. With a violent shake of his head, Harry dropped the apple and all but ran out of the clearing. He could not, would not, fall from grace. Not like this.

It was silent in the clearing until a set of giggles erupted from the top of the tree. Jasdevit leaned against each other, hidden from sight by the leaves and the branches. Devit wiped a tear from his eye dramatically. "Tyki sees it too, huh?"

"hii hii~" Jasdero giggled in response. "He wasted an apple~"

"That he did." Devit smirked and took a large bite out of the apple in his hand. "That he did."

They watched Harry run out of the garden in the distance, laughing with each other the whole time. The boy could run from his family, he could run from the wizards, but he could never run from the bonds that were closing in on him like a vice.

* * *

Days passed in the Ark without any kind of real had taken those few days to allow Harry to adjust to a new life, a new way of living. It had been nice for Ellen just to spend time with the boy and get to know him. However, the other members of the Clan had been oddly absent. The twins would pop in every so often and raid the kitchen, but other than that it had just been the Ellen, Tyki, and Harry inhabiting the tower.

She woke later that day to the sound of her door slamming against the wall. She and Tyki sprang from the bed, wrapping some form of cover over their naked bodies. She almost dropped the sheet when she realized that it was Rhode. The girl had been oddly hard to track down for the past few days but there she was, fuming at the foot of their bed.

"Rhode? Where have you been?" asked Ellen.

"Don't pretend to be worried for me," Rhode snapped. "When were you going to tell us about Neah? About the Sword of Exorcism? Or was it part of your plan to keep us in the dark _again_?"

Ellen felt dread run down her spine in an icy wave. "Who told you about that?"

"You're not even going to try to deny it." Rhode sneered.

"What would be the point in that? You obviously know what happened." Ellen sighed heavily and sat down on the bed. "I was going to try to understand what happened myself before I told any of you."

" _Menina_ , what is she talking about?" Tyki asked quietly.

"When we entered the Ark on the night of the Battle of the Ministry, Neah was waiting for us. He has pieces of his memory spread all over the Ark but he's basically harmless." Admitted Ellen. "He convinced me to look at Harry with my cursed eye and that thing I saw, it was horrifying. Neah told me to call on the Sword of Exorcism and it actually answered. Seeing a piece of my Crown Clown did something to me. Before I knew what was happening, I'd swung at Harry and the thing feeding off of him was dead."

She rubbed her red-rimmed eyes harshly. "You have to understand, I thought the Sword was lost with the rest of the Innocence. The fact that I could call on it was a miracle."

Rhode laughed harshly. "It was a curse! You managed to revive the only thing that could actually kill us. Did it not cross your mind that if the wrong person gets ahold of the Sword, it could be our end?"

"We have to destroy it." Tyki said quietly. "It's too dangerous for us to leave alone. Rhode is right, that thing is the only piece of Innocence left in the world. Without Adam, it could be another thousand years before we are born again and I'm not sure about you, but I'm very happy with this incarnation."

Ellen felt tears fill her eyes as Rhode nodded in agreement. He was right. If they destroyed the Sword, it would cement their immortality. The only thing that could kill a Noah was Innocence and dark matter, and the Clan was determined not to repeat the previous massacre. But could she destroy the last piece of her Crown Clown? For the first time in a century she could feel the warm embrace of her first friend, like standing in the sun after the chill of a long winder.

She hesitated before speaking. "We should vote on it as a Clan. It can kill whatever was attached to Harry, it could be useful in the future."

The tinier Noah huffed. "You just want to keep your stupid Innocence."

"I do," said Ellen. "It's foolish and selfish, but Crown Clown was a part of me and it pains me to think of losing it again."

Tyki wrapped an arm around her and rested his chin on her head. "I know, _menina_. If it comes down to it, we will give you time for your goodbyes. It's the least we can do."

It comforted her a small amount to hear that. Having lost Crown Clown so suddenly before had hurt. She'd know that it would die with the Heart, but she hadn't expected the pain that came with it. Crown Clown had screamed as it died, slowly draining away from her arm. The warmth had vanished, the chill of dark matter replacing it. That part of her had never been warm again.

Part of her Crown Clown lived in the Sword of Exorcism. While it may have been born from the split of the Earl, it had merged with her Innocence. It was a completely unique weapon. It was hers.

Rhode left in a huff after the conversation came to a close. She winced thinking of what would haunt Harry's dreams that night. The girl certainly would not go easy on him.

She changed quietly, not knowing what to say to her love. The silence stretched out between them; thick enough to cut with a knife. Ellen walked up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist, her cheek pressed against his back. "I wish I'd been able to tell you myself."

He stiffened slightly but she continued. "You're my husband, I shouldn't be keeping anything from you. I pray you find it in you to forgive me for this."

"I'm not angry." Tyki sighed and turned in her embrace. "It breaks my heart that you feel like you cannot trust me. I regret that we have not been able to fully repair what was broken."

Tears stung at her eyes. "I keep waiting for all of this to disappear. That I'll wake up one day and it'll have all been a dream and I'd be alone again."

" _Amor_ , I swear to you that I will never leave again." swore Tyki. "I have followed you to the ends of the world for over a hundred years and I will continue to do so until the stars go dark and the earth stops turning."

"I love you." She whispered against his chest.

He smiled and kissed her deeply, pressing their foreheads together. "I love you as well. More than you will ever know."

They managed to tear themselves apart after a few minutes and readied themselves for bed, slipping beneath the cool covers. Ellen snuggled up against him and took in the warm, real feeling of his body against hers. Her breathing slowed in time with his as they drifted off to sleep.

Ellen's dreams that night were filled with the future, her stomach swollen once more with her and Tyki's child while he smiled down at her. Harry was sitting at their kitchen table with Amanda leaning against him as they played card with Jasdevit. Rhode and Sheril's voices were sounding from somewhere in the house and it was good and it was warm. When she woke the next morning, she wept bitterly. It had been the worst punishment Rhode could have given her.

She hadn't let Ellen see the horrors of the world. She'd given her peace and then snatched it away. Somehow, that hurt more.

* * *

 **I AM SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG.**

 **I just let school and family stuff take over my life and writing took a back seat. However, I'm back and I'll try to at least update every two months or so! It honestly depends when inspiration comes because i'm having MAJOR writer's block with this**

 **Anyways, thank y'all so much for reading and supporting me throughout all of this. I hope you enjoy this chapter. Please review and let me know what you think!**


	5. Chapter 5

Time moved strangely in the Ark.

Harry didn't notice it at first, as overwhelmed as he was with all the change that was going on in his life. It wasn't until the first month passed without any real action that he began to get suspicious. The whole reason Ellen had taken him from Privet Drive was to prepare him for what she perceived to be a war coming. Yet the entire time he had been there, he'd done little but explore the Ark and the vast gardens of Eden.

The days in the Ark were long and bright, not a single dark cloud appearing in the time he had been living there. The nights were even longer. Every night, without fail, Harry would find himself jolting awake from another nightmare. They were never the same, yet they all had the same ending. Each night he would watch his friends fight against Voldemort and his Death Eaters, and each night he would be powerless to save them.

The only reprieve that Harry had was Eden. Since that first night he'd stumbled upon the garden, he felt a special connection to it. Underneath Eve's cursed apple tree was the only real place that he could truly sleep.

On the nights when he could not force himself to sleep, he spoke to the tree. His secrets, his desires, all the things he held dear to his heart flowed from his lips like honey as he spilled his soul. Harry would give to Eden all of his sins and in return it would offer him the same gift with the rising of the sun.

A single, bright red apple would bloom before his eyes every morning. His hands would move of their own free will and pluck the forbidden fruit from the branch, bringing it close enough to bite until he regained his sanity and let it drop to the ground. Tyki's warning echoed in his mind constantly along with the fear of being thrown from grace. No matter how tempting the apple was, it was never going to be worth losing his sanctuary.

As he grew closer to temptation, he grew closer to the Noah as well.

It happened slowly, to the point where he would only notice it looking back in the years that were to come. With every nightmare, Ellen was there in the morning to offer some advice or to show him some "handy little spell" that she had picked up on her travels. She began to fill his days with learning until he could recite spells he'd never imagined in his sleep. She'd started to invite him in to her potions lab and watched him as he sat crouched above a cauldron, bright mist swirling around him. Every single day she would show him something new to push the boundaries of what what he once called sanity.

"Magic is not inherently good or evil," she'd told him one day, as they leaned against the railing on his bedroom balcony. "It is what you do with magic that defines it. Learn to use your mind, little love, and your world will grow by leaps and bounds..."

Her words had echoed in his mind for days, following him no matter where he went. He could not escape them even if he tried.

Ellen's influence was something that was extremely subtle. It crept up on him and began to change him before he realized what was truly happening. Tyki's involvement was decidedly...less subtle. He'd marched into Harry's room early one morning and dumped a bucket of cold water on the boy, giving him a simple command.

 _Run._

Harry had taken a single look at Tyki's sickly yellow eyes and bolted from his bed, shoving past the man and down the stairs. Instinct had taken over his body at that point. In that moment the Noah was not the same man who had taught him for the previous year. It was easy to forget the sly jokes and easy laughter with all the adrenaline rushing through his veins. No matter how fast he ran, he could hear Tyki's footsteps approaching him; each step echoed through the halls of the tower and sent a jolt of fear into his heart.

He must have run from the man for a good twenty minutes before he suddenly tripped over the smooth ground, leaving himself winded and disoriented. Laughter had filled the air as Tyki walked up to him, offering a hand to help the boy up. The difference between that Tyki and the one that had woke him was night and day; the yellow eyes that had struck fear into Harry's heart were now a warm gold, the dangerous smirk now a teasing smile. Tyki hauled him to his feet and helped him get reoriented before nodding.

"Tomorrow," Tyki had warned, "You make it here in ten minutes."

It was all the hell of Quidditch training with none of the fun involved. Harry had thought he was in good shape from the sport, but Tyki's standards were ridiculously high. As soon as he'd been deemed fast enough, Tyki had simply introduced sparring into the mixture. Not only were his early mornings dedicated to running for his life from the Teez, but he got to end his mornings by avoiding getting the crap beaten out of him by Tyki and Rhode.

Rhode, he thought with a groan, was absolutely terrifying.

He'd always been somewhat wary of the girl, what with the whole 'stabbing Malfoy with a candle' incident that had happened the night of the Ministry battle, but training with her brought out an entire new side. Rhode's sweet face and delicate features hid a beyond sadistic mind with a penchant for torture. Ellen forced him continue learning Occlumency under the tiny Noah, citing that Snape had been "a greasy fool with a grudge against children".

There was never a designated time for training with Rhode. She was insistent that he be aware of his mind at all times and would randomly attack his mental shields throughout the day. Harry had made the mistake of complaining to her once and all that did was force her to attack his mind that much more viciously.

She seemed to take pleasure in the fact that Harry's mind was somewhat weak at first. She'd taunt him worse than Snape ever did, using memories that he'd thought were his alone against him. It was hell.

By the end of the fourth month, Harry almost wished that things had never started to pick up. He had the same routine almost every day. He'd work out with Tyki, then take a shower and join Ellen for dueling and charms. There was potions every other day and it was more often than not that he would be dragged out of the Ark to make an 'appearance' in some major Wizarding city.

Still, the longer he stayed aboard the Ark, the more he felt like he finally belonged. The Noah were a strange group of people with their own eccentricities but they were still a family. It was easy to see the love that they had for each other in every interaction. Over the months he got to watch them grow closer, healing wounds that he did not know the cause.

Harry was happy for them but there was still the bitter sting of jealousy that lived under the surface. Rationally, he knew that he was being ridiculous. The Noah had taken him in and protected him from the dangers of the world, but years of living with the Dursleys still made him feel as if he was an outsider. It was hard not to be jealous. The Clan was beautiful and strong with powers that he could never dream of having. Part of him yearned to be a part of it so that he could stay with them forever.

He'd finally asked Ellen one day, mustering up all the courage he had. They were in her potions lab, a very different place from the dungeons of Hogwarts. It was stark white like everything in the Ark with sunlight pouring in from the giant windows along the wall. Ellen was chopping up ingredients and humming a cheerful to herself when he asked. "Erm, Ellen?"

"Hmm?" Ellen had replied, her eyes never moving from the action at hand.

"Why aren't there more Noah?"

She'd sighed and put the knife down. "It's because we don't have the Earl. His presence in the world is what triggers the Noah gene in people. Everyone has it, but it is up to the memory who they choose. Since we don't have Adam with us any longer, the gene doesn't get activated in anyone. We have always been at our best whenever the Clan is complete but to allow something like Adam to wreak havoc on the world again...I can't allow it. The Clan will not grow anymore, but it will survive and that is what matters."

"So will there never be more?" Harry's voice had been hopeful yet desperate. "There's no way?"

"Not that I know about, little love."

Harry had fallen silent at the answer while Ellen simply picked up her knife again and got back to work. He'd known that it was unlikely, but something in him was so deeply sad to hear that it was impossible. He wanted family like they had; he wanted someone to love him as fiercely and thoroughly as they loved each other.

But Harry pushed down the bitterness and the jealously that loomed in his heart and threw himself into his training whole heartedly. Something in his mind whispered to him, that if he was good enough and proved himself to be _useful_ , then they would keep him around. In his desperation to belong Harry gave them all his trust and hope.

In return, the Noah gave him all that he could ever ask for.

They trained him and fed him. Each one of them gave him a little bit of the wisdom that they had to offer, and Harry soaked it up like a sponge. Rhode, Ellen, and Tyki helped to make him strong. Sheril helped to make him clever. Jasdevit taught him to take the fear that lived in his heart and trick it with a smile on his face. Somewhere along the line, the Noah helped make him the best version of himself and all he'd had to do was trust them. He trusted and they rewarded.

* * *

It was seven months into his stay on the Ark when they finally allowed him into one of the Clan's meetings.

As excited as he was to finally be let in on something so important to the Clan, it wasn't what he'd expected. Harry walked in to see Sheril lounging with a glass of red wine in his hand while the twins bounced around the room with Rhode. Ellen and Tyki were at the center of the storm, laughing quietly to each other. It wasn't much different to how they were on a daily basis.

Part of him dimly wondered why he'd expected anything else.

"Ah, our dearest savior!" Sheril crowed when he laid eyes on Harry. "That is what the Prophet is calling you now. _'Wizarding World's Savior Still Missing! Where is he now?'_ I'll say, you really help support the news industry."

Ellen laughed obnoxiously. "Quit being such a priss, Sheril! Come here love, we've got much to discuss."

He walked over cautiously, grinning at the oldest Noah when Ellen yanked him down on the couch next to them. "Well, Sheril, last I heard I was in Rome. I'm really getting around this summer."

Sheril quirked a brow up in amusement. "So, the boy has jokes? You've gone and ruined him Ellen, I much preferred the angsty child we got to know and love. He was so delightfully entertaining."

"Sorry to disappoint," laughed Ellen. "Harry, I demand that you fall into despair whenever Sheril is around."

He grinned and sniffed dramatically, causing the normally prim and proper Noah to snort into his drink. Ellen all but dissolved into hysterics, her laughter filling the room as tears began to gather at her eyes. The Noah of Pleasure sighed good naturedly and covered Ellen's mouth with a gloved hand, stifling the sound. "Now, now, settle down children. We have much to discuss."

The humorous atmosphere vanished, the feeling in the room turning serious in a heartbeat. Ellen's laughter stopped, the twins sat down in a jumbled pile, even Rhode managed to perch herself on the arm of a chair for a moment. Ellen sat sup straight and smiled calmly at all of them. "What all do you have to report?"

Jasdevit managed to untangle themselves for a moment for Devit to smirk wickedly. "Jasdero and I got our transfer approved. Tonks was pretty happy to see some friendly faces for once."

Guilt stabbed through Harry like a hot knife after all of these months. It was like he had all but forgotten about his friends on the outside with all that had been going on. Were they safe? How worried were they about him? His thoughts continued to barrel through his mind at a breakneck pace, his anxiety building with every beat of his heart. Almost as if she could hear what he was thinking, Rhode reached out and squeezed his wrist gently. The action was so out of character for the girl that it snapped him out of the fog almost immediately.

He came back to himself to hear Tyki talking quietly about Hogwarts business. "…has said Slughorn agreed to return to his old job. You can imagine how happy Severus must be."

"He might even wash his hair to celebrate." said Ellen dryly.

"Why is Snape happy?" asked Harry, pulling a laugh from the two.

"Horace Slughorn will be taking over as Potions Master for the coming year." Tyki chuckled. "Severus finally has the Defense Against the Dark Arts position he so greatly desired."

"NO!" Harry shouted despite himself. "How?"

Ellen rolled her eyes in barely concealed annoyance. "I'm sure Albus has some brilliant plan to go along with it. He wouldn't risk Severus otherwise; the man is too valuable even if he is a greasy little git. But that's for us to worry about another day, little love. Sheril, you had news from the Ministry?"

Harry zoned out again as Sheril began to prattle on about boring Ministry duties and politics. _Snape_. Snape was the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. The bat of the dungeons himself had managed to sink his claws into Harry's favorite class. It was the worst thing that could happened. Harry could practically see his dreams of becoming an Auror going up in smoke as he imagined Snape failing him time after time for petty reasons.

"That is neither here nor there though." Sheril sipped his wine quietly. "Ellen, I believe we agreed to destroy that irritating bit of Innocence today?"

The air in the room thickened with tension as Harry looked on in confusion. What was Innocence? Ellen stiffed and removed herself from Tyki's lap without a sound. "I still think it could be useful. What if there are more of them?"

"And we still think it's foolish to keep a weapon that has the potential to destroy the Clan of Noah." said Rhode, her voice colder than he had ever heard it. "You get to say your goodbyes this time. Let that be enough."

Harry watched all the fight go out of Ellen, the brilliant silver color of her eyes turning into a dull, sad grey as she gave up. It was obvious that this was something they had been arguing about for a while and it seemed like Ellen was finally tired fo the back and forth of it all.

"Well," sighed Ellen, "I guess we might as well get it over with. Harry, I'm sorry dear, but I don't think this is something that you should watch."

Sheril shook his head immediately. "The boy is already here. Why not let him stay?"

She shot the other Noah a glare, but his only response was to raise a single brow at her expectantly. Ellen rolled her eyes but turned to Harry. "You can stay, but please keep some distance. We don't know how it'll react and I don't want you to get hurt."

The Fourteenth rose from her spot before he could reply and walked into the courtyard without a sound. One by one, the others rose and followed her out without saying a word. When he gathered himself enough to follow, the Noah were standing in a loose circle with Ellen standing in the center.

Her palms were facing upward and her eyes were closed as if she was praying. Maybe she was. For once they all wore the deadened grey sin of the Noah, black stigmata burned across their foreheads like a brand. He couldn't see it, but he knew there were bright yellow eyes boring into Ellen at that moment. Ellen frowned deeply and the space above her hands began to grow with a pleasant green light. The sword from the night at the Ministry began to slowly fade into view as she concentrated.

It was beautiful, Harry realized. The metal was cool and white, a large cross decorating the blade. Everything about the sword seemed to sing with a righteousness and a sense of purity that he had never noticed before. He was filled with the urge to protect it from the Noah, to snatch it from their hands and never let them near it again. It was good and pure, not made for them to sully with their dead gray hands.

Ellen pressed her lips to the blade in a reverent kiss, tears softly falling from her eyes. "I'm sorry my dear friend." She whispered. "But I must protect my family. I hope you can forgive me."

Glowing white feathers sprouted from the hilt of the sword, wrapped up her scaled black arm in an embrace. It continued to climb until a single feather wiped a tear from her face, brushing against her cheek before retreating. She smiled to herself and kissed the sword one last time before nodding to the other Noah. "Thank you."

She squeezed her hands around the sword tightly, a now familiar purple lightening erupting from her grip. The sword began to smoke and squeal as the lightning spread across the surface leaving cracks in its wake; it was the most heartbreaking sound that Harry had ever heard.

Then several things happened at once. With a final wail, the sword burst into a cloud of soft green dust. Everything was still for a moment before tears began pouring from all of the Noah's eyes. Harry had but a moment to register it before the worst pain he'd ever felt burst from his scar. It was more intense than it ever had been, like something was hammering into his forehead from the inside. He fell to his knees and grasped at it as blood began to pour from the scar.

Something in the back of his mind was rejoicing. Voldemort. It had to have been Voldemort, he could almost hear the dark wizard's laughter echoing in his mind as he pressed his palms to the scar in an effort to make everything _stop_.

By the time the pain had faded away and Harry had collected himself, there was quite a scene before him. Ellen was on the ground openly sobbing while the twins held back a furious Rhode. The tiniest Noah was kicking and snarling, doing all she could to reach Ellen without hurting Jasdevit in the process. She finally broke free and shook Ellen roughly, screaming in her face. "He's gone. I can't feel Adam anymore. Allen, why is he GONE?"

Ellen gave another loud sob in response, but the look on her face was not her own. It was as if there was another person simply wearing her skin. "I've killed him, I've killed my brother. Oh god, what have I done? It wasn't supposed to happen, we were supposed to whole again. It shouldn't be like this. What have I done? _What have I done?_ "

"The Earl is dead." Devit said quietly, ignoring Jasdero's increasingly panicked mumbling behind him. "How did you kill the Earl?"

The girl did nothing but continue to sob and whisper to herself as Rhode let go of her as if she was burned. Harry wanted to go to her, to offer her some form of comfort, but it felt like his limbs were made of lead. He could not move or speak. All Harry could do was sit there hopelessly and watch as Tyki kneeled down next to his wife, slowly wrapping his arms around her shaking form. The man started to murmur in her ear, holding her as she rocked back and forth.

Only Sheril seemed unbothered by the whole debacle. He was standing calmly off to the side with his hands in his pockets, ignoring the tears streaming down his face. "It's rather obvious. The Fourteenth was half of Adam and so was that sword. It only lived because of its tie to the Earl, and Adam's memory only lived because there was still something tying him to this world. By destroying it, we severed that bond and killed the last bit of Adam's soul. It looks like we helped Neah with his goal after all."

"What do you mean?" asked Harry, watching the scene before him.

"It's simple." Sheril's words were calm but his smile was razor sharp. "Our lovely Allen has finally fulfilled her mission and taken her rightful place as the new Millennium Earl."

They all fell silent at his words and simply watched as the Millennium Earl cried over the ashes of her once-loved other half.

It had begun.

* * *

 **You get a 3 a.m. update, _you_ get a 3 a.m. update, everyone gets a 3 a.m. update!**

 **Well, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and please leave a review to let me know what you think of it! I'll hopefully have the next one out by April or May, possibly sooner if I can get back into the swing of things :)**


	6. Chapter 6

Eden was unnaturally still when Harry woke that morning. He winced as he rose from the hard ground and tried to run his hand through his hair, encountering the blood that had dried there from the day before. Everything had been so chaotic in the moments after Sheryl's announcement.

 _Our lovely Allen has finally fulfilled her mission and taken her rightful place as the new Millennium Earl._

The Millennium Earl. Familiar dark purple lightning had erupted from Ellen's small form as her wails grew louder, attacking anything that was near. He'd watched dimly as Tyki was thrown across the room, phasing through one of the walls as if it was nothing. The walls and pillars of the atrium had started to crack and crumble under the pressure of her grief, the floor shaking like the earth itself was thrashing about. Jasdevit had taken one look at Harry's terrified, frozen form and dashed across the room to drag him away from the debacle unfolding before him. Harry had been so numb with pain and fear that he could barely hear the words whispered between them, half sentences formed in the way that only one's other half could understand.

"-not awake.."

"...still weak-"

"-take him to Eden!"

And so they did. The twins dragged Harry from the shaking tower, deep into the gardens that he had found so much peace inside of, yet even the presence of his sanctuary could stop the cackles in his head, the way that Voldemort seemed to assault him from every angle of his mind. It had been so, so long since the dark wizard had been able to get inside of Harry's mind, why now?

One of the twins, the dark haired one, _Devit_ , crouched next to him and gently shook his shoulders. "Eh, boy, we know you're there. Come out, come back to us."

He was right. Harry had to come back to them, had to escape from the dark grasp that Voldemort had over him in that moment. He wrenched himself away, hitting his head against the rough bark of Eve's tree. Pain erupted across his skull, but his mind finally went quiet. Harry stared down at the ground for a few moments, locking down every shield that Rhode had helped him put into place. There was no way that Voldemort was going to get back in his mind. It was a freak accident, he'd panicked and weakened himself. That had to be the only explanation for it.

"Thanks." He said quietly, confused by the disappointed expression that seemed to flit across the Noah's face.

The dark haired Noah shook his head and placed a palm across Harry's face. "Sleep. It'll all be over soon, wonder kid."

His world had gone dark at Devit's words, somehow forcing him unconsciousness until the rising sun pulled him from his spell. Harry shook his head, trying to clear his mind of all the events that had occurred the day before. He looked back at the tower if only to see if it had survived the Earl's, _Ellen-Allen-Neah's,_ wrath. Much to his surprise, it was still standing as if nothing had ever happened. As if the sounds of cracking stone hadn't filled his ears, as if dust hadn't fallen from the ceiling to coat them with physical proof of their arrogance.

Hell, if Harry hadn't the proof of the day's events crusted in his hair and on his skin, he wouldn't believe it either. He leaned back against his beloved apple tree staring up into the heavy branches. If he looked closely, he could see the beginnings of an apple sprouting with the morning light shining over the town surrounding the tower.

It seemed that some things would never change. His life could fall apart at the seams and the sun would still rise in the morning and set in the evening. Eden would gift her apples to whatever mortal was fortunate enough to find themselves behind her walls.

Harry could dimly hear the sound of footsteps approaching as he continued to lean against the tree. It wasn't Tyki or the twins, the steps were too few and light for it to be any of them. Hope rose in his heart for a second as he opened his eyes wishing to see Ellen. His heart dropped slightly as he laid eyes on Rhode and the frown that was seemingly etched onto her face. He scooted over slightly to make room for her to settled down against the tree next to him, her arms wrapping loosely around his neck as she snuggled close.

For whatever reason, he felt closer than ever to the tiniest Noah in that moment. It was as if he could hear her heartbeat in his ears beating along with his and calming down all of the frantic thoughts that filled his head. Her fingers gently ran through his hair, smoothing out the matted bits and brushing the flakes of dried blood off of him. His throat burned with the effort but he still managed to whisper to her. "Everything is going to change now, isn't it?"

"Mmhmm," Rhode hummed. "You're leaving."

Panic shot through Harry as he attempted to jerk away from her, but her arms were like iron shackles around him. "Why?"

"Allen had wanted you to go back to _them_ after the meeting."

"Don't talk about her like that." He hated it, the way she said _'wanted'_ as if Ellen was gone, like the Earl was the only one that existed. "She's-she's still Ellen. Isn't she?"

Rhode sighed. "What have I told you about asking questions? I don't have an answer for you, chosen boy. You're gonna have to find out like the rest of us."

"I don't want to go."

"I know," She nuzzled her head into the crook of his neck. "I know."

* * *

In the end, Harry's departure from the Ark was rather anticlimactic considering the dramatic way that he'd come to reside on it.

In the days after his conversation with Rhode inside of the Garden of Eden, he'd slowly packed up his life. The stark white room that had once seemed so cold to him had become a place of comfort, a place of warmth and love. It stung to have to take every happy memory, ever remnant of times spent laughing and learning and just fold them into the bottomless trunk that had been provided to him. Even Hedwig seemed upset about leaving their Ark, hooting sadly every time she returned from her flights around the bubble they lived in.

Part of him wondered if that was how it was supposed to feel when leaving home. Was he supposed to be hesitant, to be sad? Leaving Privet Drive had always been the highlight of his summer and he would spend his days counting down until he could finally walk away. Now he was dreading what he had once loved. It wasn't that he didn't want to go back to Hogwarts, the thought still filled Harry's heart with a giddy sort of joy.

It was that he was going to miss the Ark. He was going to miss days learning with Ellen. He was going to miss the days he spent exploring and hiding from Rhode, their laughter filling the empty streets of the town as they raced through without a care in the world. He was going to miss the places he got to see, the world that he hadn't even imagined before. He was going to miss the nights he 'snuck' out of the Ark and into the streets of Manhattan, his arms wrapped around Amanda as he was able to feel like a normal teenager for the first time in his life. For the first time in his life, he couldn't feel the ghosts of his parents around every corner and the stares filled with judgement and expectations.

Hogwarts meant having to become Harry Potter, the Chosen One. Here he was just...Harry.

But the Earl had decreed that it was his time to go, so he went. Harry couldn't lie, it hurt that he hadn't seen Ellen since the incident with that sword. He could hear her everywhere; her soft giggles, her gentle voice, her pain filled wails...There wasn't a place on the Ark that he could go where he couldn't feel her presence in some way.

Rhode had been the one to escort him out of the Ark. The gate was in the middle of town, she explained as he dragged his floating luggage and Hedwig behind him. They left the tower without any type of delay or drama, but the second they passed by Eden, Harry's feet felt like they were glued to the ground. He looked over at her with pleading eyes, earning an eye roll and a nod in return.

He left everything floating next to her as he sprinted into the garden, following the familiar path to Eve's apple tree. Harry faltered as he approached it though laying eyes on the pale white figure gently sitting among the branches.

Ellen looked almost angelic in that moment. Everything about her was soft and white, even her hair falling in gentle white wisps across her face. The only color he could see was the bright red scar cutting gruesomely across her face and the equally red apple clutched in her hands. Silver eyes looked up from their gaze at the apple, softening when they met green eyes.

"You must be Harry..." Her voice was like velvet. "It's been a while since we've had a chance to meet."

"Neah."

There was no hesitation in his voice as Harry cautiously approached the Noah. They hummed in response, swinging tiny bare feet as they leaned forward to get a better look at him. They smiled widely, showing just a little too much teeth for it to feel anything but threatening. "You've heard of me? How delightful!"

He stepped closer to the Noah. "I know that Ellen was scared of you."

"She was in denial of who we are," Neah giggled again. "It's rather silly, isn't it? To be scared of yourself?"

"You aren't her. You can wear her face, you can use her voice, but you're never going to be Ellen." Harry spat out, his fingers twitching towards his wand.

Neah sighed and shook their head. "You're just like her. Don't worry _little love_ , I'll give her back her body eventually. Poor little Ellen had to take some time to heal, so I took it upon myself to take our body out for a spin. I have to admit that this form is much more...appealing than my last."

They leaped off of the branch, landing without a sound on Eden's soft green grass. Neah walked as if they were floating, their movements sensual and fluid in a way that Ellen's never were. They leaned up against him, soft white hands sliding up to cup his face as half lidded silver eyes burned into him. Everything about the position should have been enjoyable, almost pleasurable, but it was so obviously _not Ellen_ that Harry could feel nothing but revulsion. Neah rubbed their thumbs against his cheek, one of them catching on his bottom lip. "Oh, the fun we could have...it's too bad really, my host just had to give her heart to Joyd and we all know how possessive he can be."

Neah leaned in even closer, their lips barely brushing against his as they spoke. "She doesn't like that I'm doing this. I can hear her screaming now just begging me to stop. But you don't want me to, do you?"

"D-Don't.." Harry managed to choke out, his vocal cords as frozen as the rest of his body.

"So boring.." They sighed, finally, _finally_ stepping away from him. "I'll give her back to you soon enough Harry Potter. But until then? _All of this is mine_."

They tossed their head back, yellow eyes boring into him. "Now, get out of my garden."

There was a split second that he was going to argue with them so that he could say goodbye to his beloved Eden the proper way. But cold fear filled his heart, freezing him from the inside out and Harry just ran. he ran away from Eden, away from the tower, away from the monster that was wearing Ellen's face like it belonged to them. He came to a crashing stop in front of Rhode who simply stared down at him in pity.

Harry didn't have to ask her if she knew about Neah, because her face told him everything that he needed to know.

Their journey after that was much quieter opposed to the constant chatter they had maintained until he'd gone into Eden. It was a strange feeling for Rhode, she could almost feel guilt as she looked over at Harry's disappointed face. She hadn't known that Neah was in the garden, but something in her gut twisted and made her feel like she should have gone with him to protect him from the Fourteenth. Neah had been prancing all over the tower for days practically gloating that he was in control of Ellen's body for once. Honestly, he still made her sick..

She unlocked the gate with the wave of her hand, the once dim spot lighting up with a brilliant white light. Harry stared at her wordlessly for a moment before the younger girl threw herself into his arms, wrapping her own around his neck tightly. It caught him off guard for a moment before her pulled her close. Her words were muffled as she murmured against his neck. "Come back to us, please."

"It's only a few weeks," said Harry quietly. "We'll see each other at Hogwarts..."

Rhode pulled away from him with a sigh, the almost disappointed light in her eyes vanishing as quickly as it had appeared. "Get on, chosen one. You've got some humans to fool."

He found himself grinning despite all that had happened in the past hour. "Try not to miss me too much."

Before she had the chance to retaliate, Harry slipped through the gate without one last glimpse at the beauty of the Ark. He was gone.

* * *

The gate closed with a resounding thud and disappeared from sight, leaving him standing alone on the side of a familiar dirt path with only the rising sun to light his way. For a while he stayed on the side of the path, leaning against an old tree while the sun rose. Around him the world slowly came to life. Birds began to chirp and various other animals poked their heads out of their different burrows and nests.

In that brief moment he was reminded of the home that he had left behind. Of the bright green plants of Eden, the wide blue skies that seemed to endlessly stretch across the Ark. After spending so much time on the Ark, the world around him felt unnaturally alive. There was a sense of chaos that surrounded him. For the first time in weeks he was in a place that was not under Ellen's completely control. The sun would rise when it deemed itself ready, the birds in the air could fly as high and far as they wanted to, the law of nature ruled above all else. There was a feeling of freedom that seemed to surround them.

Ellen had warned him that he wouldn't feel the same once he left the Ark, but hadn't thought this is what she meant.

After what must have been an hour he rose from his spot on the ground with a small groan. It was disgustingly early in the morning, his watch reading only a few minutes after eight, but the sun was fully risen and he was able to see more than a few feet ahead of him. A small huff of laughter escaped his lips as he stretched. He could practically hear Ellen lecturing him about being conscientious his time and others. It was a lesson she'd tried very hard to teach him, but it never stuck..

Still, it was a good mile to the Burrow and if he wished to catch them off guard, he definitely had to get moving. Harry brushed himself off and grabbed his things from where they were resting by the tree. As he jostled them he could hear Hedwig screeching in protest, flapping her wings as she was locked away in the cage she hadn't needed for over eight months.

"Shh, girl," He tried to soothe her. "We'll be at the Burrow in just a mo' and you can fly all you want."

The owl settled down, fluffing her feathers up with one last shake. He couldn't help but laugh at the display. They both had been spoiled by their experiences on the Ark.

But despite all that had happened over the summer, he found himself feeling excited as he grew closer to the Burrow. For everyone else he'd only been gone a summer, but it had been a long eight months without speaking to the people he held dear. There was so much that Harry wanted to share and so much that he had to hide. He supposed that he should be upset with Ellen for that, for dragging him into her tangled web of lies and secrets. But whenever he looked at her, he could only feel grateful. Ellen had reached out like the angel of God himself and plucked Harry from his suffering, wrapping him in her love and protection. Her small, soft hands had cradled and molded him into a version of himself that was almost unrecognizable. His sharp, angry edges were worn away until he was stronger, until he was better. Ellen had shown him a better path and he was eternally grateful for that.

Ron and Hermione would always have a special place in his heart, that was no question. They were the first people that he was able to call friend in this world and had been with him through the hardest times of his life. But there was still the fact that the things he'd experienced...There was no way that Harry could look inside of his heart and ask them to risk their lives, no, their _souls_ on a quest that did not belong to them.

The Burrow quickly came into sight with every step that he took. He could hear his heartbeat quickening in his ears, the rapid beat thrumming through his body. Harry could feel his palms slick with sweat, his breathing became shallow as he approached the door. Why was he so nervous? It wasn't like he vanished without a word with a fake note saying he was running away and had spent a large amount of time faking his location while he was really on a mythical plane of existence surrounded by ancient creatures that used to be determined to bring about the end of the world itself.

They _definitely_ wouldn't be mad at him for that.

He raised his hand and firmly knocked on the door. For a moment it was all quiet and he wondered if it was too early for any of them to be awake.

Before he even had the chance to step back and evaluate anything, the door slowly opened. Harry's eyes met Mrs. Weasley's and then the door was flung open and her arms were wrapped tightly around his neck in a hug. He felt her tears before he heard them, the shuddering of her breathing, the way that she held on to him as if he was going to disappear if she ever let go. Harry knew in his heart that he should feel guilty for making her feel this way, that he should be the one to grovel and apologize for leaving.

The words stuck in his throat and his tongue was heavy in his mouth, unable to move to form the words he should be saying. This feeling, that of warmth and acceptance, it was what he had been missing for all of those months that he was on the Ark. He slowly wrapped his arms around her and hugged tightly. "Good morning."

She answered with a loud sob, shaking him a little bit. "Good morning, you impossible boy."

Harry could only pull her closer and let himself bask in the warmth of a mother's love. It had been a long, long eight months but he was back. Harry Potter had finally returned.

* * *

 **pls don't kill me i know i said april or may and it's september I CAN'T READ OKAY**

 **IMMA BE REAL WIT YALL, THIS WAS A STRUGGLE AND IM STILL NOT A FAN BUT I HAD TO GET THIS ONE OUT THE WAY**

 **I hope u enjoyed it and please please please review and let me know what you thought! i wanna hear the good, the bad, and the ugly bc i don't have a beta reader and i don't edit lmao we write and die like men**


	7. Chapter 7

Where did you go seemed to be the question that burned on Mrs. Weasley's lips. Where were you? Why did you leave? Why didn't you tell anyone that you were leaving? Where the hell have you been Harry?

Everything happened in such a blur. He'd been yanked inside the Burrow by Mrs. Weasley, her nervous, tear-filled fretting putting his skin on edge until she sat him down with a mug of coffee and a scratchy blanket wrapped around his shoulders. It was hard for him to feel settled in the Burrow, what with the constant buzz of magic and nature all around him. It was a stark contrast to the eerie stillness of the Ark he'd grown accustomed to after eight long months.

Harry knew what his story was supposed to be. A run-away after the tragic death of his much beloved godfather, fleeing the country in the wake of his grief. He _knew_ his story yet he could not make the words fall from his lips. His tongue was tied into knots, his voice left in the greedy clutches of a golden-eyed monster wearing his Ellen's ( _his Ellen's?_ ) face.

"I didn't have a choice." Harry blurted out. "There wasn't anything else that I could do. I had to leave."

It was the truth, but a half truth at that. It was still a lie that scalded his tongue and spread through his veins like acid, burning him from the inside out with shame. It was hard to pretend when faced with the reality of what he had done. None of Ellen's coaching could have prepared him for Mrs. Weasley's red-rimmed gaze, the way she wrung her hands in her apron, her trembling lower lip, the tense set of her shoulders. Harry had done that to her. Done that to the woman who have loved him like her own.

Her voice was still thick with tears as she quietly pleaded with him. "Why didn't you tell us? We could have helped you, dear."

"I didn't think anyone could." A lie. A filthy lie.

Mrs. Weasley sat down in the chair next to him and grasped his hands in hers. The touch burned his skin even more, branded him with the truth of his deceit. Her hands were as they always had been. Warm and soft, but still rough around the edges. The hands of one who had soothed many a heavy heart and knitted a dozen love filled sweaters. A mother's hands.

( _Awful, dirty hands, the snide voice that lived in the back of his head hissed, impure hands. Staining him. Burning him. Get them off.)_

"Harry, you can tell me anything."

He finally met her eyes, his own green eyes lit up with an almost fanatic light. "I found the truth."

Finally, an honest answer. The truth lived on the Ark, nestled in the branches of Eve's forbidden tree right above the grave of the Millennium Earl and the ghost of a child that had their chance at life stolen from them. The truth was a bright red fruit, offered as payment for desperate secrets falling given in the in the dark of night. The truth was damnation itself.

"I found Eden, Mrs. Weasley, and she has given me the gift of knowledge."

Her gaze contained fear now. Fear of what terrible, terrible things might be clawing at the edges of his mind. "W-We need to call Ellen, I believe. And Professor Dumbledore."

There was the urge to pull his hands from hers and wrap them around her neck until her face was purple and her eyes shot from lack of oxygen. But just as soon as the urge appeared, it was gone and Harry was filled with nothing but horror. "I-I'm sorry." He stammered. "I don't know what came over me..."

What had come over him? This violence, it didn't belong in his heart, yet there it sat as an angry and bitter ball of hate. It was the part of him that resented Mrs. Weasley for letting him be carted off to Privet Drive each summer. She had known, she'd _known,_ what they did to him and still she sent him off with a kiss to the forehead and a hurried plea to write over the summer. It wasn't until Ellen had appeared that a single person had cared enough to grip him by the hand and pull him from his own personal hell.

"It's alright, dear." She stammered, pulling away from him slowly. "We'll get this all sorted out when the Headmaster arrives. Now, let's get this all upstairs. You must be exhausted after such a...journey."

He watched her as she flicked her wand and his bags rose to float behind her, Hedwig squawking in protest. Part of him couldn't help but notice that the owl didn't screech like that for Rhode. Then again, it wasn't all that surprising that even birds were frightened of the tiny Noah. She was a truly terrifying being.

Harry followed Mrs. Weasley up the stairs, wincing at how the worn wooden steps seemed to creak and grown with even the slightest of movement. It was so _different_ from the Ark. But, he had to remind himself, he wasn't on the Ark. No matter how much the ghost of it seemed to follow him, he wasn't there. He'd been thrown out just as the first of man were exiled from paradise.

Part of him couldn't help but wonder, what was his sin?

* * *

Ron was still sleeping when Mrs. Weasley led him into the bedroom. He couldn't blame him, the sun had barely risen in the time since Harry had arrived at the Burrow. They quietly set his trunks down at the foot of the camp bed that had all but become a permanent fixture in the room after all his nights spent in the home. Mrs. Weasley made her way over to the window and opened it, allowing Hedwig to fly out and stretch her wings a little bit. After all, she was convinced that it had been a long trip for both Harry and Hedwig.

He settled quietly on the bed, staring up at the ceiling as she made her way back downstairs. He could hear Ron's breathing growing less measured as the ginger began to fidget around in his sleep. After so many years of sharing a room, he'd learned to recognize the signs of his friend waking. He only had a few more minutes until the sun would rise enough to shine directly onto Ron's face and fully wake him.

Despite everything, Harry found himself growing excited. He'd missed the energy around Ron. He'd just missed his friend. And there was so much to tell him...

Harry looked around the room lazily, a wry grin spread across his face. The room was the exact same as it had been the last time he'd been at the Burrow. There were Chudley Cannons posters everywhere, the players flying about and occasionally waving to the boy staring at them. It was just as messy as ever but somehow the mess felt comforting. No matter how much Harry had changed in his months away, there was some small constant in his life.

He heard Ron groan loudly, a sign that he was finally being pulled from the tight grasp of sleep. How would he react, Harry dimly wondered, once he realized that Harry was there?

Ron sat up in bed, staring down at the quilt as he harshly rubbed the remnants of sleep from his eyes. He sleepily nodded over at Harry, a quick "G'mornin' Harry." escaping from his lips before he finally registered what was going on and jumped, falling out of bed in a tangle of sheets and blanket.

"Harry?" exclaimed Ron, his jaw slack with shock.

"In the flesh." said Harry with a somewhat cheeky smile spreading across his face. He couldn't help it, not when Ron looked so confused but also so completely joyous at the sight of his friend.

It was only a moment later when he found himself tackled onto the bed. Ron had his arms wrapped tightly around him as if the moment he let go Harry was going to disappear before his very eyes. It only took a second before Harry was holding onto him just as tight. Eight months. Eight long months without hearing a word from the person who was his brother in all but blood. Harry hadn't realized how desperate he was for his friend's presence until that very moment.

They held onto each other for what must have been a good five minutes, just holding onto the other to make sure that he was really there. When they finally pulled away from each other there was a curious glint in Ron's eyes, the same glint that could be seen moments before sneaking out of the common room on some kind of adventure.

"Where'd you go?" asked Ron.

Harry grinned over at his friend. "Everywhere. I went everywhere."

It was the truth. Harry shared the tales of all the countries he visited and the strange sights he saw. There were places they had never dreamed of seeing. He described the thick Amazonian rainforests of Brazil, the crowded streets of Tokyo, the vast mountains in the United States. Ellen had not just taken him to places for his alibis, she'd shown him the world that they had all of the time to see. So he wasn't lying to Ron when he told him of his travels. It just...wasn't the whole truth. That would have to be good enough for now.

His friend soaked in all of the information like a sponge. Ron laughed at the funnier moments and frowned when Harry described the dangers he had been caught in. Harry even saw the teasing grins and nudges when he told his best friend about meeting Amanda and how they still wrote to each other planning to meet back up for the winter holidays.

It was easy to fall back into the rhythm of things with Ron. It was almost like he had never left, had never experienced the Ark and all of the secrets the Clan had revealed to him. He was just a teenage boy again sitting and talking with his best friend.

The peace and easy-going atmosphere instantly vanished when the door swung open once more, Hermione standing in the doorway with anger and relief both painted across her face.

She pulled him into a furious hug, shaking the entire time. Whether it was with fury or simply with emotion that Harry had made it back to them in one piece was uncertain, but he still pulled her closer nonetheless.

"Why?" She asked heatedly, stepping away from him to glare in righteous anger. "Why did you do that?"

The guilt returned, seeping into his veins like fire as he recited the story that he and Ellen had practiced hundreds of times. "I couldn't stay there anymore. Everything just...Sirius, the Dursleys, Voldemort. I felt like I was suffocating, Hermione." Harry leaned back on the bed, rubbing his eyes under his glasses in frustration. "All I know is that I was fighting with Aunt Petunia and then the walls were closing in on me. I ran and then I just had to keep running. It was like once I started, I just couldn't stop until I had to. No matter where I went, I knew I was going to end up back here. Hogwarts is my home, I could never just leave it."

"But you could leave us?" said Hermione bitterly, her arms crossed as if to protect herself from the answer she was waiting to hear. Ron looked back and forth between the two, unsure what to do or say in the moment at hand.

Harry shook his head. "Never. I missed you both so much, but I couldn't write. The Ministry or Dumbledore could have tracked Hedwig and made me come back before I was ready."

"Are you ready now?"

"I am. I won't leave again, I promise."

All of the anger seemed to flood out of Hermione's body. Her shoulders slumped and she sighed tiredly before moving to sit down next to Ron and Harry. A warmth was spreading through him that had nothing to do with the sunlight streaming in from the window. The guilt that had formed a tight ball in his chest seemed to be dissolving. He knew that Ron and Hermione were more shocked than they were letting on, but the mere fact that they were still there on either side of him, not shrinking from him as though he were contaminated or dangerous, was worth more than he could ever tell them.

It didn't matter where he had gone when he was alone, he knew that moving forward they would be by his side through it all.

* * *

The next few weeks passed slowly for Harry. He spend the majority of his time within the confines of the Burrow and the land around it. Without the daily magic lessons he'd endured on the Ark, he found himself keeping busy playing two-on-two Quidditch matches in the Burrow. The greatest deal of trouble they ran into was Hermione's encounter with one of the twin's trick telescopes, giving her a black eye that seemed to last. It wasn't the same level of excitement that he had grown used to, but it was nice to unwind and just act like he was Just Harry once more. Just Harry played Quidditch and read the Prophet and ate as many helpings of Mrs. Weasley's delicious cooking as he could. Just Harry didn't have the weight of the world on his shoulders.

His birthday came and passed with mixed feelings. The Weasley's had thrown him a party for it, but it was marred by the dark news that Remus Lupin brought with him about the actions of Voldemort and his followers. It was dulled even more so by the fact that all of the Noah failed to attend. Harry hadn't heard a word from them since the day he left the Ark and the only way that he would be able to contact them was to use his own key and vanish into the Musician's Room, a place he had been all but forbidden to enter unless he was in grave danger.

Harry became more and more moody with each day that he failed to receive even a single letter from the Clan. He had spent eight long months spending almost every waking hour with them and now it felt as if he was being punished with radio silence. He didn't even see them in his dreams anymore.

The day after his rather gloomy birthday tea, their letters and booklists arrived from Hogwarts. Harry's included news that he was surprised to receive after his disappearing act: He had been made Quidditch Captain.

"That gives you equal status with prefects!" Hermione cried happily. "You can use our special bathroom now and everything!"

"Wow, I remember when Charlie wore one of these," Ron said, examining the badge with glee. "Harry, this is so cool, you're my Captain — if you let me back on the team, I suppose, ha ha..."

"Well, I don't suppose we can put off a trip to Diagon Alley much longer now you've got these," sighed Mrs. Weasley, looking down Ron's booklist. "We'll go on Saturday as long as your father doesn't have to go into work again. I'm not going there without him."

It was an overcast, gloomy looking day, one made perfectly to match Harry's mood. One of the special Ministry of Magic cars, in which Harry had ridden once before, was awaiting them in the front yard when they emerged from the house, pulling on their cloaks. "It's good Dad can get us these again," said Ron appreciatively, stretching luxuriously as the car moved smoothly away from the Burrow. He, Harry, Hermione, and Ginny were all sitting in roomy comfort in the wide backseat.

"Don't get used to it, it's only because of Harry," said Mr. Weasley over his shoulder. He and Mrs. Weasley were in front with the Ministry driver. "He's been given top-grade security status. And we'll be joining up with additional security at the Leaky Cauldron too."

Harry said nothing at all; the idea of doing all of his shopping surrounded by Ministry workers sounded dreadful, especially when compared to his last trip to Diagon Alley eight months ago. Or was it two? He constantly had to remind himself that less time had passed for everyone else than it had for the group living on the Ark. Strange how the passage of time worked.

"Here you are, then," said the driver, a surprisingly short while later, speaking for the first time as he slowed in Charing Cross Road and stopped outside the Leaky Cauldron. "I'm to wait for you, any idea how long you'll be?"

"A couple of hours, I expect," said Mr. Weasley. "Ah, good, they're both here!"

Harry immediately moved to peer out of the window, a huge smile spreading across his face. There weren't any Ministry workers or Aurors waiting for the group to arrive, but instead the unlikely pair of Rubeus Hagrid and Ellen Walker. Everything seemed to slow down as he laid eyes on the Noah. It had been so long since he'd last seen her, memories of falling dust and screams of pain filling his head. For a moment Harry was frightened; was this Ellen or was it Neah wearing her face again? He wasn't sure if he could handle seeing such a cold look in her eyes again. But then Ellen smiled and he knew it was her in there. Neah could never look so kind, not in a million years.

"Harry.." sighed Ellen, pulling him into a tight hug the moment she could. "Oh my little love, I've missed you so."

"Glad you're back," said Harry, taking in the warmth and affection. "I wasn't sure if I would see you again."

She laughed softly and stepped away. "I'm much too stubborn to go down so easily. Now, we have some books to get, don't we Rubeus?"

"Jus' like old times Harry, innit? See, the Ministry wanted ter send a bunch o' Aurors, but Dumbledore said Ellen an I'd do," said Hagrid proudly, patting Harry on the back and thoroughly winding the boy. "Let's get goin' then — after yeh, Molly, Arthur —"

The Leaky Cauldron was vastly different from how he had last seen it so many months ago. While there had been very few customers at the start of summer it was, for the first time in Harry's memory, completely empty. Only Tom the landlord, wizened and toothless, remained of the old crowd. He looked up hopefully as they entered, but before he could speak, Hagrid said importantly, "Jus' passin' through today, Tom, sure yeh understand, Hogwarts business, yeh know."

Tom nodded gloomily and returned to wiping glasses, luckily not saying a word about having seen Harry before his disappearing act. The group made their way through the bar and out into the courtyard where the entrance to Diagon Alley stood. Hagrid raised his pink umbrella and rapped a certain brick in the wall, which opened at once to form an archway onto a winding cobbled street.

They stepped through the entrance and paused, looking around. Diagon Alley had changed. Where it had once been a colorful place with beautiful displays showing the wares that the shops were selling, now everything was covered up with posters from the Ministry. Mugshots of Death Eaters sneered out at them as they walked by, the posters shouting warnings about how to stay safe in the darker times to come. Even the people seemed different. Everyone had the same worried look on their face as Mrs. Weasley did and they seemed determined to keep their heads down and get out of the way. Gone was the gleeful chatter that used to fill the air, leaving only a heavy silence in its place. Nobody seemed to be shopping alone.

"Migh' be a bit of a squeeze in there with all of us," said Hagrid as they stopped outside of Madam Malkin's, bending down to peer through the window. "I'll stand guard outside, all right?"

Ellen, Harry, Ron, and Hermione all entered the small shop together. At first it looked like it was completely empty but as the door shut behind them, they heard a sadly familiar voice ringing out from behind all of the robes. "...not a child, in case you haven't noticed, Mother. I am perfectly capable of doing my shopping alone."

They heard Madam Malkin titter to herself and speak up, "Now, dear, your mother's quite right, none of us is supposed to go wandering around on our own anymore, it's nothing to do with being a child —"

"Watch where you're sticking that pin, will you!" A teenage boy with a pale, pointed face and white-blond hair appeared from behind the rack, wearing a handsome set of dark green robes that glittered with pins around the hem and the edges of the sleeves. He strode to the mirror and examined himself; it was a few moments before he noticed the four of them reflected over his shoulder. His light gray eyes narrowed. "If you're wondering what the smell is, Mother, a Mudblood and a Beast just walked in," sneered Draco Malfoy.

"I don't think there's any need for language like that!" said Madam Malkin as she came rushing out from behind the robes, supplies in hand. "And I don't want wands drawn in my shop either!" she added hastily, for a glance toward the door had shown her Harry and Ron both standing there with their wands out and pointing at Malfoy. Ellen reached forward and grabbed a handful of the two boy's robes, pulling them back slightly

Hermione stepped closer to them and whispered, "He's not worth it..."

"Yeah, like you'd dare do magic out of school," sneered Malfoy. "Who blacked your eye, Granger? I want to send them flowers."

"That's quite enough!" said Madam Malkin sharply, looking over her shoulder for support. "Madam, please."

A tall blonde woman came out from behind the racks, her face in the same pinched expression that Malfoy always seemed to wear. Ellen resisted the urge to groan aloud. Narcissa Malfoy was and always would be a complete pain to deal with. "Put those away," she said coldly to Harry and Ron. "If you attack my son again, I shall ensure that it is the last thing you ever do."

"Really?" said Harry, taking a step forward and gazing into the smoothly arrogant face that bore so much resemblance to Bellatrix. After so many months away and training, he was as tall as she was and twice as broad. "Going to get a few Death Eater pals to do us in, are you?"

Madam Malkin squealed and clutched at her heart. "Really, you shouldn't accuse people of such things, dangerous thing to say...wands away, please!"

Still, Harry kept his wand up even as Ellen harshly tugged on the back of his shirt. Narcissa Malfoy smiled rather unpleasantly. "I see that being Dumbledore's favorite has given you a false sense of security, Harry Potter. But Dumbledore won't always be there to protect you."

Harry looked mockingly all around the shop. "Dumbldore isn't here, so why don't you give it a go! Think they'll find a cell for you in Azkaban next to your husband?"

Malfoy went to lunge at Harry in his anger before tripping over the overlong robes, pulling a loud laugh from Ron. "Don't you dare talk to my mother like that, Potter!"

"It's all right, Draco," said Narcissa, restraining him with her thin white fingers upon his shoulder. "I expect Potter will be reunited with dear Sirius before I am reunited with Lucius."

Harry raised his wand higher. "Now that's enough!" Ellen snapped, pushing his arm down and stepping in front of him. "You're better than this Harry, don't stoop to _their_ level."

Madam Malkin dithered for a moment on the spot, then seemed to decide to act as though nothing was happening in the hope that it wouldn't. She bent toward Malfoy, who was still glaring at Harry. "I think this left sleeve could come up a little bit more, dear, let me just —"

"Ouch!" bellowed Malfoy, slapping her hand away. "Watch where you're putting your pins, woman! Mother — I don't think I want these anymore —" He pulled the robes over his head and threw them onto the floor at Madam Malkin's feet.

"You're right, Draco," said Narcissa, with a contemptuous glance at both Hermione and Ellen, "now I know the kind of scum that shops here...We'll do better at Twilfitt and Tatting's."

And with that, the pair of them strode out of the shop, Malfoy making sure to knock into Ron as hard as he possibly could on the way out. .

"Well, really!" said Madam Malkin, snatching up the fallen robes and cleaning them off the best that she could. It was clear that the woman was rattled by what had gone down. She was absent minded throughout the fitting of both boy's robes and even tried to sell wizard's dress robes to Hermione and Ellen twice. When they were finally ready to leave, it couldn't be more clear that she was glad to get them out of her shop.

"Got ev'rything?" asked Hagrid brightly when they reappeared at his side.

"Just about," said Harry. "Did you see the Malfoys?"

"Yeah," said Hagrid, unconcerned. "Bu' they wouldn' dare make trouble in the middle o' Diagon Alley, Harry. Don' worry abou' them."

The four of them all looked at each other as if they didn't believe a word of what he just said, but before they could protest in the slightest, the other Weasley's had joined them with all of their books clutched in their arms.

"Everyone all right? Did you get everything?" said Mrs. Weasley. They all nodded and followed behind her as she prattled on about where else they needed to go. The other visits to the shops were quick and before they knew it, they found themselves standing in front of the twin's newly opened joke shop.

Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes stuck out like a sore thumb in the newfound gloom of Diagon Alley. It was the only standing testament to the joy and wonder that used to fill the street with its bright purple outside and shop windows filled with a million fascinating things. Even the people who seemed determined to get out of Diagon Alley in as little time possible couldn't help but stop and stare at the colorful building.

The shop itself was packed with customers. There were so many people browsing the shop that it was near impossible to reach any of the shelves, much less grab the quickly dwindling merchandise. There were several products that all of them recognized as things that the twins had been working on over the last year of Hogwarts. It was clear for anyone to see that there was a true love for jokes and pranking put into every single item. The shop was filled with joy and laughter.

Everyone immediately set off to look at everything, even the Golden Trio was pulled away by the twins to discuss whatever it might be that the terrors wanted to share with them. Ellen stayed back from the crowd, instead choosing to simply watch them. It had been so long since she'd had the chance to purely exist in a place full of happiness that she couldn't help but just take it all in. She smiled to herself as she looked at everything that the twins had done. She might not have known them as well as she did the others, but she was still proud to see what they had accomplished. They were bright, ambitious boys and it looked like they had gotten what they wanted from life.

The trio eventually rejoined the group, murmuring to themselves while Ginny begged her mother for one of the Pygmy Puffs that were for sale. As Mrs. Weasley moved over to get a look at what it was that her daughter wanted, the four of them were left with an unimpeded view out the window. Draco Malfoy was rushing up the street by himself, looking over his shoulder as if to see if anyone was following him. They watched him until he completely disappeared from sight.

"Wonder where his mummy is?" said Harry, frowning.

"Given her the slip by the looks of it," said Ron.

"Why, though?" said Hermione. Harry shared a look with the other two and Ellen knew what was about to happen. But Harry couldn't be that stupid. She didn't spend eight months teaching him subtlety and information gathering just for him to rush off without a plan at the first sign of suspicious activity. He wouldn't.

"Get under here, quick," said Harry, pulling his Invisibility Cloak out of his bag.

Damn it. He would.

"Oh, I don't know, Harry," said Hermione, looking uncertainly toward Mrs. Weasley.

"Come on!" said Ron.

She hesitated for a second longer, then ducked under the Cloak with Harry and Ron. Ellen groaned out loud and quickly shoved herself under the too small cloak as well. The trio looked at her in surprise but she simply shook her head. Now was not the time for that particular lecture. It would have to come later. They managed to make their way out of the door and onto the street without anyone noticing that they were gone, but Malfoy was nowhere to be seen.

"He was going in that direction," Harry whispered, glancing over at Hagrid hoping that the man hadn't heard them.

"Brilliant plan Harry, really." Ellen griped. "He went _that way_ , wonderful sense of direction you have."

Harry gave her a rather pointed look before urging the rest of them to hurry on down the road. It was only a few shops down when Hermione pointed in front of them. "He's turning left!"

"Big surprise," whispered Ron. For Malfoy had glanced around, then slid into Knockturn Alley and out of sight.

"Quick, or we'll lose him," said Harry, speeding up.

But even Knockturn Alley, usually full of people wishing to purchase more unsavory magical goods, was completely deserted. They peered into windows as they passed, but none of the shops seemed to have any customers at all. Harry supposed it was a bit of a giveaway in these dangerous and suspicious times to buy Dark artifacts, or at least, to be seen buying them. Hermione gave his arm a hard pinch. "Ouch!"

"Shh! Look! He's in there!" she breathed in Harry's ear.

In front of them was perhaps one of the darker shops in Knockturn Alley, Borgin and Burkes. Ellen had had quite a few run-ins in the shop trying to track down the relics of the Black Order during the First Wizarding War. There in the middle of the shop surrounded by all types of dark items was Draco Malfoy, luckily standing with his back to them. Whatever was being said, Malfoy was obviously very involved with his constant hand motions and movements. Mr. Borgin, a grouchy old man with a venomous tongue stood facing him, his face an odd mixture of irritation and fear.

"We can!" said Ron excitedly. "Extendable Ears, look!"

"Fantastic!" said Hermione, as Ron unraveled the long, flesh-colored strings and began to feed them toward the bottom of the door. "Oh, I hope the door isn't Imperturbable —"

"No!" said Ron gleefully. "Listen!" They put their heads together and listened intently to the ends of the strings, through which Malfoy's voice could be heard loud and clear.

"...you know how to fix it?"

"Possibly," said Borgin, in a tone that suggested he was unwilling to commit himself. "I'll need to see it, though. Why don't you bring it into the shop?"

"I can't," said Malfoy. "It's got to stay put. I just need you to tell me how to do it."

"Well, without seeing it, I must say it will be a very difficult job, perhaps impossible. I couldn't guarantee anything."

"No?" said Malfoy, and they knew, just by his tone, that Malfoy was sneering. "Perhaps this will make you more confident." He moved toward Borgin and was blocked from view by the cabinet. The four of them shuffled over to try to keep Malfoy in sight, but all they could see was Borgin suddenly looking much more frightened.

"Tell anyone," said Malfoy, "and there will be retribution. You know Fenrir Greyback? He's a family friend. He'll be dropping in from time to time to make sure you're giving the problem your full attention."

"There will be no need for-"

"I'll decide that," said Malfoy. "Well, I'd better be off. And don't forget to keep that one safe, I'll need it."

"Perhaps you'd like to take it now?"

"No, of course I wouldn't, you stupid little man, how would I look carrying that down the street? Just don't sell it."

"Of course not...sir."

"Not a word to anyone, Borgin, and that includes my mother, understand?"

"Naturally, naturally," murmured Borgin, bowing again. Next moment, the bell over the door tinkled loudly as Malfoy stalked out of the shop looking very pleased with himself. He passed so close to the four of them that they felt the cloak rustle around their knees. Inside the shop, Borgin remained frozen, the smile that had been forced onto his face gone.

"What was that about?" whispered Ron, reeling in the Extendable Ears.

"Dunno," said Harry, thinking hard. "He wants something mended...and he wants to reserve something in there...Could you see what he pointed at when he said 'that one'?"

"No, he was behind that cabinet-"

"You two stay here," whispered Hermione, going to duck out from under the cloak until Ellen grabbed her by the wrist and shook her head.

"I have...some history with Mr. Borgin." Ellen smiled tightly. "I might be able to get more out of him that you would."

The Noah slipped out from under the cloak, quickly fixing her hair in the window before striding into the shop as if she owned the place. Ron quickly shoved the Extendable Ear back under the door and handed the strings back to Harry and Hermione.

"Looks like business has gotten slow, Mr. Borgin." Ellen chirped as she walked into the shop, curiously peering at the items displayed.

Mr. Borgin glanced over at her and sneered, shaking his head. "I've not got any of your precious Order items anymore. You cleaned me out of those decades ago."

"I'm not in the market for any of those today, though that necklace does look oddly familiar. The rose cross is such a distinctive design after all."

"It's one and a half thousand Galleons," said Mr. Borgin coldly.

She winced slightly at the price, looking back at the necklace that had obviously come from some place in the Black Order. She'd have to return for it one day soon. "Still, I was wondering if there were any items that are a bit more... _interesting_. That boy that just left, Draco, he's one of my friends from Hogwarts and I've been meaning to pick up something for Yule before classes start. He didn't put anything on hold, did he?"

Borgin's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "You've never been one to associate with the Malfoys, all cozy in Dumbledore's pocket, aren't you?"

"Oh, well, you know that times change." Ellen replied just a little too quickly. "Albus and I are on the outs right now."

It was a shoddy excuse at best, and one that Borgin didn't buy in the slightest. "Out," he said sharply. "Get out!"

"Fine. Keep that necklace for me, won't you?" Ellen snapped as she rushed out of the building. The shop owner slammed the door behind her, switching the sign to CLOSED before she could even protest.

She sighed as they threw the cloak back over her head. Hermione looked at her oddly. "The Order?"

"Different order, different time." She replied quickly, refusing to say another word about it.

They made their way back to the joke shop in tense silence as Hermione kept shooting suspicious glances at a ever more irritated Ellen the entire journey. It took quite a bit of maneuvering for the four of them to sneak back into the shop undetected as their absence had clearly been noted, and even more effort to convince Mrs. Weasley that the four of them had simply been hanging out in the back room the entire time. Hagrid and Ellen escorted the entire group back to the Leaky Cauldron as soon as everyone was accounted for.

Harry looked back at her as they were herded into the car, but the Noah was already gone. Hagrid waved cheerfully at him as the car drove away. He leaned back in his seat next to Ron and Hermione with a frustrated sigh. As many encounters with Ellen tended to go, he was left with more questions than he was answers.

What was the Order?

* * *

 **i'm not even gonna try to promise update goals, i'm a college student and sometimes stuff gets a little too busy for me to even have the chance to write :(**

 **anyways! i hope y'all enjoyed this! please review and let me know what you think!**


	8. Chapter 8

Harry spent the week they had left of holidays thinking of what they had witnessed in Knockturn Alley. Malfoy was up to something and there wasn't a doubt in his mind about it, but it seemed like Hermione and Ron were much less curious than Harry was. In particular, Hermione seemed to be more focused on Ellen's conversation with Borgin than anything else.

It was growing to a point of contention. Hermione would argue that it was suspicious that Ellen had been in a place like Knockturn Alley enough for one of the shop owners to know her by name and Harry would argue back that they had no clue what she had been there in the past for. As gray as Ellen tended to be, she was nowhere near as dark as Hermione seemed to be implying that she was. And given the fact that they hadn't heard another word from the Noah since their trip, Hermione's suspicions only seemed to be growing.

"What good could she be doing down there, Harry?" asked Hermione impatiently. They'd been arguing the subject for the past fifteen minutes and it was starting to escalate. "Borgin knew her. He knew her well enough to know that she didn't like the Malfoys. And she said she'd be back! To Knockturn Alley!"

"Maybe she just likes skulls?" Ron offered up vaguely, trying his best to ignore the argument in front of him as he fiddled with his broomstick's tail twigs.

"We still barely know anything about her!"

"Dumbledore trusts her. She fought at the Ministry with us." argued Harry for the thousandth time. "Whatever she's doing is for us."

"And what about the other Order she mentioned?" said Hermione. "Harry, she's a Noah. A dark creature. We don't know what she's done in the past!"

"I don't get why we're arguing about her when Malfoy was the one threatening Borgin!" said Harry, frustrated. "He's up to something and he's the one we should be watching, not Ellen! His father is a Death Eater —" Harry broke off, his eyes fixed on the window behind Hermione, his mouth open. A startling thought had just occurred to him.

"Harry?" said Hermione in an anxious voice. "What's wrong?"

"Malfoy's a Death Eater" said Harry slowly. "Someone had to replace his father, didn't they?"

Everything fell quiet for a moment before Ron burst into laughter. "Harry, he's sixteen! You really think You-Know-Who is letting students join?

"It seems like a bit of a stretch..." Hermione said quietly. "I mean, Malfoy?"

"Think about it. He wouldn't let Madame Malkin touch his left arm, what if he has the Dark Mark?

Ron and Hermione looked at each other. "Well..." said Ron, sounding thoroughly unconvinced.

"I think he just wanted to get out of there, Harry," said Hermione.

"He showed Borgin something, something that we couldn't see. Something that scared him." Harry kept going. "Not much would frighten a man like Borgin, don't you think?"

Ron and Hermione exchanged another look. "I'm not sure, Harry..."

"Yeah, I still don't reckon You-Know-Who would let Malfoy join..."

He was both annoyed at their immediate dismissal and absolutely convinced of what he was saying being true. Harry grabbed the nearest pile of clothes and stormed out of the room; any excuse to get away from that particular conversation was a good enough reason for him. Besides, Mrs. Weasley had been trying to get them all to do the rest of their washing before it they had to pack up for Hogwarts. In his annoyance he almost didn't notice Ginny until he bumped straight into her, almost knocking her own clothes out of his hand.

"Small warning, there's a lot of Phlegm in the kitchen." said Ginny with a well suffering grin.

"I'll be careful not to slip in it." Harry smiled. Sure enough, Fleur Delacour was sitting at the kitchen table when he entered. The witch had been at the Burrow the entire time that he was there planning her wedding to Bill. Harry and Ron liked her well enough, but her presence seemed to grate on the women of the house in a very unique way. Quietly, he wondered if Amanda would have the same kind of attitude towards her. She might have actually gotten along with Fleur.

Harry made a note to himself to write to her once he was on the train. It had been too long since they'd had to say goodbye for the start of school and something deep in his chest ached when he thought about not hearing from her for months.

He zoned back into the world as Fleur continued to go on and on about the wedding plans, unaware of how irritated that Mrs. Weasley was increasingly becoming.

"Ah, Harry!" said Mrs. Weasley loudly, freeing herself from that conversation. "Good, I wanted to explain about the security arrangements for the journey to Hogwarts tomorrow. We'll be going in the Ministry cars and they've got Aurors keeping an eye out."

"Is Tonks going to be there?" asked Harry, grinning at the thought of seeing the metamorphmagus again.

"No, I believe Arthur said she was stationed somewhere else. Those dreadful Noah twins will be there though..."

"She has let 'erself go, zat Tonks," Fleur mused as she peered down to look over the papers spread across the table. "A big mistake if you ask —" "

"Yes, thank you," said Mrs. Weasley cut her off quickly. "Finish up that bit, I want you all packed and ready to leave by tonight. We don't want to have the last minute scramble."

* * *

And as it turned out, packing to avoid doing everything at the last minute actually worked out. Their departure from the Burrow was much smoother than it had ever been, lacking the shouting and flying objects that Harry had come to expect with getting that many people sent off to school. By the time the Ministry cars had pulled up in from of the Burrow, they were ready and waiting with everything packed. Even the pets that always seemed to give them trouble were safely in their cages and ready for departure.

The drive to King's Cross Station was quick, the excitement of heading back to Hogwarts making the ride much more cheerful than what it had been in the past. Even Harry couldn't resist smiling and joining in on the laughter and jokes. There was no Hagrid or Ellen waiting for them when they arrived at the station, just Jasdero and Devit waiting with devilish smirks painted on their faces.

Something about Harry was so insanely curious about the pair. He hadn't interacted with them as much as the others during his time on the Ark and that was mostly to do with how simply unnerving he found them. A lot of it was a twin thing, but unlike Fred and George it almost seemed like the two Noahs were actually the same person, just split into two. He'd mentioned that little theory to Rhode once and the girl had laughed so hard that tears streamed down her face, but she'd never confirmed or denied if how he felt was true.

They moved forward the moment that the cars stopped, flanking the group as they walked into the station. Everyone else seemed just as unnerved by the pair as they chattered back and forth with each other, never acknowledging the people they were supposed to be guarding. Jasdero had a tendency to giggle quite loudly and Mrs. Weasley nearly flinched almost every time she did so.

"Quick, quick, through the barrier," said Mrs. Weasley once they arrived at the entrance to the platform. "Harry, you go first with.."

Devit stepped forward with the cocky smirk that seemed permanently fixed on his face. He grabbed Harry's arm and began moving them forward, tossing out a quick "I've got the boy." to the group.

They moved quickly through the barrier with Harry's trolley in front of them, finding themselves standing on platform nine and three-quarters only a second later. Devit looked over at the barrier before leaning in to whisper in Harry's ear. "The Earl is waiting for you on the train. Don't disappoint us, chosen boy."

Hermione and the Weasleys came bursting through the barrier before he could respond, shooting irritated looks at Jasdero. The blonde twin had probably done something to delay the group if only for a few seconds to allow his brother to pass on the message. They were weirdly connected enough to think up something like that. With a subtle nod towards Devit, Harry motioned to his friends to follow him up to the platform so that he could at least start to search for Ellen.

"We can't, Harry...We've got to be in the prefects' carriage and then we have to patrol for a bit" said Hermione, looking apologetic.

"Oh yeah, I forgot," said Harry.

"You'd better get straight on the train, all of you, you've only got a few minutes to go," said Mrs. Weasley, consulting her watch. "Well, have a lovely term, Ron..."

"Mr. Weasley, can I.." Harry trailed off, his voice stuck in his throat. He wanted nothing more than to talk to the man about Malfoy and what they had seen, but the moment he looked up it was like time slowed down. He could see everyone moving on the platform slowly as the sound of his own heartbeat filled his ears.

Two sets of glowing yellow eyes stared up at him from behind the Weasleys as two hands moved in unison to place a finger in front of their lips. _Shh, be quiet now,_ they seemed to say without saying a word.

 _Don't say anything._

Harry shook his head and halfheartedly smiled at Mr. Weasley. "Never mind, I forgot what I had to ask." The Weasleys smiled up at him and helped him to shove his trunk up onto the train as he said not another word. His voice was gone again, he wouldn't get it back until he found Ellen.

"Now, dear, you're coming to us for Christmas, it's all fixed with Dumbledore, so we'll see you quite soon," said Mrs. Weasley through the window, as Harry slammed the door shut behind him and the train began to move. "You make sure you look after yourself and stay safe!"

Harry waved at all of them until the train turned the corner and they were gone from his sight, turning back to see that everyone else had left him behind. Ron and Hermione had told him that they were off to the prefects' carriage, but before he could ask Ginny about grabbing a compartment together she ran up to Dean Thomas with a bright smile on her face.

It was once he realized that he was truly alone that he felt the staring. Everyone stared shamelessly, some even pressing their faces against the windows of their compartments as he passed. Though, he suppose he'd done it to himself with all the Chosen One business and his little charade with the Noahs over the summer. Everyone thought Harry Potter had been a very busy man.

"Hi, Harry!" said a familiar voice from behind him.

"Neville!" said Harry with a smile, turning to see the boy struggling with his trunks as always.

"Hello, Harry," Luna Lovegood poked her head out from behind Neville, the same misty look in her eyes as always.

"Luna, hi, how are you?"

"Very well, thank you," said Luna. She was clutching a magazine to her chest; large letters on the front announced that there was a pair of free Spectrespecs inside.

"Quibbler still going strong, then?" asked Harry, who felt a certain fondness for the magazine, having given it an exclusive interview the previous year.

"Oh yes, circulation's well up," said Luna happily.

"Let's go find some seats. Ellen said she'd save a compartment for all of us." Harry offered up quickly, eager to get away from all of the staring. They moved down the corridor as fast as they could, peeking in compartments in search of the Noah waiting for them.

After a good five minutes of searching they found Ellen waiting for them near the back of the train. She was caught up in a heated argument with Rhode that stopped the second they opened up the compartment door. Rhode looked them up and down with an unimpressed look on her face before hopping up.

"I'm going to go hex all of Warrington's hair off. Consider what I said, Allen." said Rhode quickly, shoving her way past the three. "Keep your mind clear."

Ellen winced and smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry, we did try to teach her manners."

He just grinned back at her, his mood instantly better now that he was by her side. The three of them settled in the compartment without much fuss and soon conversation was flowing easily between the group. Harry was in the midst of informing Ellen of all of the staring he'd been subjected to.

"They've even been staring at us!" Neville piped up, indicating himself and Luna. "Because we're with you!"

"They're staring at you because you were at the Ministry too," Harry insisted. "Everything that happened at the Ministry was all in the Prophet, you had to see it."

"I thought Gran was going to be furious about all of the attention" said Neville, "but she was pleased, says I'm starting to live up to my dad's name. She even went and bought me a new wand, look!"

"Cherry and unicorn hair," Neville said proudly. "We think it was one of the last Ollivander ever sold, he vanished next day — oi, come back here, Trevor!" And he dived under the seat to retrieve his toad as it made one of its frequent bids for freedom.

"Are we still doing D.A. meetings this year, Harry?" asked Luna.

"There's no real point to it now that Umbridge is gone." said Harry, sitting down.

Neville bumped his head against the seat as he emerged from under it. He looked most disappointed. "I liked the D.A.! I learned loads with you!"

"I enjoyed the meetings too," said Luna serenely. "It was like having friends."

An uncomfortable feeling started pooling in the pit of him stomach when she said that, some curious mixture of pity and embarrassment. Before he could say anything to make his friend feel better, he heard a weird amount of noise coming from outside their compartment door. Harry looked up only to see a a group of fourth-year girls was whispering and giggling together on the other side of the glass. "You ask him!" "No, you!" "I'll do it!" And one of them, a bold-looking girl with large dark eyes, a prominent chin, and long black hair pushed her way through the door.

"Hi, Harry, I'm Romilda, Romilda Vane," she said loudly and confidently. "Why don't you join us in our compartment? You don't have to sit with them," she added in a stage whisper, indicating Neville's bottom that was sticking out from under the seats again as he searched for his pet in vain and Luna, who had put on the odd glasses she'd gotten from the Quibbler that made her look slightly demented. She froze slightly when she made eyes with Ellen staring back at her, but recovered with a smile towards Harry.

"They're my friends," said Harry coldly.

"Oh," said the girl, looking very surprised. "Oh. Okay." And she withdrew, sliding the door closed behind her.

"People expect you to have cooler friends than us," said Luna frankly as she continued to flip through her magazine as if nothing had happened.

"You are cool," said Harry shortly. "They weren't at the Ministry with us, they didn't fight with us."

"That's a very nice thing to say," beamed Luna.

"We didn't face him, though," said Neville, emerging from under the seat with fluff and dust in his hair and a resigned-looking Trevor in his hand. "You did. You should hear my gran talk about you. 'That Harry Potter's got more backbone than the whole Ministry of Magic put together!' She'd give anything to have you as a grandson..."

"Still," said Ellen quietly. "You all showed character with what you did. I can't imagine most people in your year would have ever dreamed of fighting like that."

Harry quieted down as she spoke. The fight at the Ministry seemed so long ago; it had been almost nine months for him and the rest of the Noah. He had almost forgotten how absolutely terrifying it had been. Ellen laughed and quickly changed the subject, asking Neville what his O.W.L. scores had been. The two carried on a conversation about what they would be taking this year, Neville wondering if he could take a Transfiguration N.E.W.T. even if he'd only made an Acceptable.

It was odd to see Ellen back in this kind of environment. For so many months he'd grown used to her playing the role of caregiver and mentor. Now here she was, sitting on the train with the rest of them and joking about homework like she wasn't something that had stepped out of a different time. It was so easy for her to slip back on the mask of student and act like nothing had ever happened. Looking at her, he couldn't tell that she'd kidnapped someone over the summer. He couldn't see the monstrous power she'd demonstrated when she destroyed the sword. He couldn't see Neah's grip over her in the garden. She wasn't a Noah anymore, she was just Ellen Walker, his schoolmate and friend.

"You all right, Harry? You look funny," said Neville. Harry started. "Sorry — I —"

"Wrackspurt got you?" asked Luna as she peered over her ridiculous glasses at Harry. His mouth moved for a second but no sound came out. Luna tended to have that affect on him.

"A Wrackspurt...They're invisible. They float in through your ears and make your brain go fuzzy," she said. "I thought I felt one zooming around in here."

Harry and Neville looked over at each other and quickly changed the subject to Quidditch, but out of the corner of his eye he could see Ellen hesitantly swatting at something as if she too could see what Luna was. The train ride seemed to stretch on as they continued through the countryside. They kept passing through spots of rain before breaking free into clear sunlight. Harry resisted the urge to sigh. Out of everything on the Ark, he was probably going to miss the nice weather the most.

It was during one of the sunnier patches that Ron and Hermione finally appeared again, the former slipping into the compartment with a groan.

"I'm starving." said Ron as he slumped into the seat next to Harry. "Hi, Neville. Hi, Luna. Oh, hi to you too Ellen. Harry, you won't believe this. Malfoy isn't doing any of his prefect duties. He was just sitting in his compartment with all the other snakes!"

Harry sat up in his seat, his interest caught. Across from him Ellen sighed quietly. "I'll ask Rhode to keep an eye on him."

"Even after the whole..." Hermione trailed off.

"Oh, we already Obliviated that whole lot." said Ellen indifferently. "It would be terrible to lose our little fly on the dungeon wall just because of _one_ stabbing incident."

Harry couldn't help but snort at her carefree attitude towards Rhode's violence. After a summer on the Ark, he had seen her do much much worse to her fellow Noah than she had done to Malfoy. With Rhode, it really was just one tiny stabbing. Nothing to be concerned about if you knew her.

"Still," said Ron. "It's not like him to not be out bullying all of the first years."

"Prefect duties must seem dull after the Inquisitorial Squad." said Hermione, absentmindedly flipping through her book.

"Maybe he's—"

Before Harry could get his sentence out, the compartment door was pulled open and a flustered looking third-year girl stepped inside. She looked up at the group with flaming red cheeks and held out three scrolls of parchment tied together with a bright purple ribbon. "I'm supposed to deliver these to Neville Longbottom, Ellen Walker, and H-Harry Potter."

They each took a scroll from her with murmured thank you's, the girl stumbling out of the compartment the second that she could

"What is it?" Ron demanded, as they unrolled them.

"It's an invitation." said Harry.

 _Harry, I would be delighted if you would join me for a bite of lunch in compartment C._  
 _Sincerely, Professor H.E.F. Slughorn_

"Who's Professor Slughorn?" asked Neville, looking at his own invitation as if it might bite him.

"He's a new teacher." explained Ellen with an eye roll. "It took Albus the entire summer to convince him too. Almost had to hunt Harry down and use him to persuade the man."

"But what does he want me for?" asked Neville nervously, as though he was expecting detention.

"No idea. Listen," Harry added, seized by a sudden brain wave, "let's go under the Invisibility Cloak, we might get to see what Malfoy is up to ."

Of course, nothing ended up coming from this brilliant idea. The corridors were so packed by people moving about trying to find the lunch trolley that it would have been impossible to move around under the cloak. Harry simply sighed and shoved it back into his bag. It would have been nice to wear it, if not just to avoid the stares. Not even Ellen's ever-glaring presence could stop people from gawking at the group as they passed by. It made his skin crawl in the most unpleasant way until Ellen grabbed him by the wrist. Harry looked down at the shorter Noah with relief written across his face as she gently rubbed her thumb across his pulse. Her touch was grounding. He could simply breathe and drown out all of the stares, focusing only on the sound of his heartbeat growing in his ears.

Something in him was so satisfied about being by Ellen again. It had maybe been three weeks that they were apart but he had missed his friend. Life seemed just a little more dull without her around.

It wasn't long until they reached compartment C and stepped in to see that they definitely weren't the only ones that had been invited. Horace Slughorn was an old, bald man with an enormous, silver, walruslike mustache. He jumped up to his feet at the sight of them, his great velvet-covered belly filling up the rest. "Harry, m'boy! It's so good to finally meet you! And you two, you must be Mr. Longbottom and Miss Walker! Please, take a seat!"

At Slughorn's gesture, they took the last three seats that were left in the compartment. Harry and Neville were sat nearest to the door while Ellen had darted next to Rhode who looked entirely insulted to be there. There were several people in the compartment including a Slytherin in their year, a couple of seventh years whose names Harry did not know, and Ginny looking as if she was not sure how she ended up surrounded by all of these people.

"Now, do you know everyone?" Slughorn asked the three of them. "Blaise Zabini is in your year, of course —" Zabini did not acknowledge them in the slightest to the entertainment of Rhode. "Cormac McLaggen, perhaps you've come across each other before? No? And this is Marcus Belby, I don't know whether —?" Belby, who was thin and nervous-looking, gave a strained smile. "Young miss Rebecca Campbell —" Rhode smiled sweetly at Harry, sending shivers down his spine. "and this charming young lady tells me she knows you!" Slughorn finished.

Ginny simply grimaced at the three of them when Slughorn wasn't looking.

"Well, isn't this the most pleasant," said Slughorn cozily. "We'll all get the chance to know each other a little better. Come on, take a napkin! I've packed a lunch for us today, I remember the lunch trolley being heavy on things like licorice wands and an old man like me isn't up to that task...Pheasant, Belby?"

Belby nodded and started in on the offered course, shoving food down his throat in a truly impressive manner.

"Marcus and I were just talking about how I had the chance to teach his Uncle Damocles," said Slughorn, passing around some rolls. "Outstanding wizard, outstanding, and his Order of Merlin most well-deserved. Do you see much of your uncle, Marcus?"

Unfortunately, Belby had just taken a large mouthful of pheasant; in his haste to answer Slughorn he swallowed too fast, turned purple, and began to choke.

"Anapneo," said Slughorn calmly, pointing his wand at Belby, whose airway seemed to clear at once.

"Not... not much of him, no," gasped Belby, his eyes streaming.

"Well, of course, I daresay he's busy," said Slughorn, looking questioningly at Belby. "I doubt he invented the Wolfsbane Potion without considerable hard work!"

"I suppose..." said Belby, who seemed afraid to take another bite of pheasant until he was sure that Slughorn had finished with him. "Er... he and my dad don't get on very well, you see, so I don't really know much about..."

His voice tailed away as Slughorn gave him a cold smile and turned to McLaggen instead. "Now, you, Cormac," said Slughorn, "I happen to know you see a lot of your Uncle Tiberius, because he has a rather splendid photo of the two of you hunting. Interesting family line you have, don't you?"

"Oh, yeah, that was fun, that was," boasted McLaggen. "We went with Bertie Higgs and Rufus Scrimgeour, before he was Minister of course. But yes, we do! We've got a direct line to the last of the well-known Bookman, my great-great-great-great-great grandfather I believe."

"Ah, how interesting!" beamed Slughorn, now offering around a small tray of pies. "Now tell me..."

The chatter continued, but there seemed to be a theme going. Everyone in the compartment was somehow connected to one famous or influential person. Belby and McLaggen were both related to famous wizards, Zabini's mother was a famously beautiful witch who had been tragically widowed seven times making her very well-off. Neville parents, of course, had been well known Aurors up until the day that they were tortured by Bellatrix Lestrange. That part of the conversation had been rather awkward. Rhode, or Rebecca as they all knew her, had been invited on part of her adopted father Sheryl's rather quick ascent through the ranks of the Ministry over the summer. Apparently he was becoming quite the politician. All the while though, Ellen's eyes stayed glued to McLaggen as if he was a missing piece to a puzzle she didn't know she was trying to solve.

Slughorn had finally turned to Ellen, who seemed to be trying to sink into the compartment seat as if not to be noticed. "Miss Walker! Our lovely Noah. Now tell me, are you in contact with the rest of your Clan?"

"Not all of them," said Ellen sweetly. "After the Creature Outreach Program was announced, I got back into touch with one, but we've been unable to complete our family."

"How tragic!" said Slughorn, looking closely at her. "Albus tells me you have quite the history as well. You were an exorcist with the Black Order after all!"

She froze, her sweet smile fading. "Yes..I was for a time. That was before my awakening."

Slughorn tried a few more times to get her to answer some of his more probing questions, but it seemed like Ellen had just shut down. The Black Order. It must have been the Order she was speaking to Borgin about that day in Knockturn Alley. But why would Ellen be searching for artifacts of something so far in her past?

"And now," said Slughorn, shifting massively in his seat with the air of a compere introducing his star act. "Harry Potter! Where to begin? I was so disappointed that we were not able to meet over the summer! Of course, no one could meet you over the summer. Such a daring act to vanish like that." He contemplated Harry for a moment, then said, "'The Chosen One,' they're calling you now!"

Harry said nothing.

"Of course," said Slughorn, watching Harry closely, "there have been rumors for years... I remember when, well, after that terrible night...The rumors were that you must have had extraordinary powers to be able to survive such a thing. Such rumors this summer. One never knows what to actually believe, the Prophet has a reputation of occasionally printing some inaccuracies, but there is no doubt with the number of witnesses that there was quite a disturbance at the Ministry and that you were there in the thick of it all!"

There was no way to get out of the conversation without blatantly lying, so Harry simply nodded.

Slughorn beamed at him. "So modest, so modest, no wonder Dumbledore is so fond of you. You were there, then? But the other stories, so many! People are talking about fabled prophecies and duels —"

"We never heard a prophecy," said Neville quickly. Ellen nodded her agreement at his statement.

"That's right," said Ginny staunchly. "Neville, Ellen, and I were both there too. This Chosen One stuff is just more nonsense the Prophet is using to sell papers."

"You three were there as well, were you?" said Slughorn with great interest, but not a single one of them said another word. "Yes... well... it is true that the Prophet often exaggerates, of course..."

He went off on another tangent about Gwenog Jones and the Hollyhead Harpies, but Ellen knew that he wasn't done with them. She knew of his reputation and how he could be. Horace Slughorn was a Slytherin through and through. He might not have too many ambitions of his own, but the man was cunning and he loved nothing more than to surround himself with powerful people that only seemed to make him more known. It was clever, but obvious. Albus had told her about the man's "Slug Club" in the past and there was no doubt in her mind that this was going to be the newest incarnation of it.

Finally the train emerged from yet another long misty stretch into a red sunset, and Slughorn looked around, blinking in the twilight. "Good gracious, it's getting dark already! I didn't notice that they'd lit the lamps! You'd better go and change into your robes, all of you! Off you go!"

They all shoved their way out of the compartment, Zabini rudely shouldering past Harry with Rhode skipping beside him. He, Neville, and Ginny all made to follow him but stopped when Ellen didn't join them. She smiled tightly and shooed them off with her hands. "You lot go on, I've got some things to do."

McLaggen had stayed behind a moment to talk to Slughorn about some book, leaving only he and Ellen in the corridor when he was done. She grinned up at the boy for a moment. "Walk me to my compartment, Cormac? The others went ahead without me."

He smiled in what would have been a charming manner if not for the arrogance behind it. Ellen delicately took his arm and nodded politely as he began to escort her down the corridor talking her ear off about Quidditch. Honestly, did these boys ever think about anything else? It was exhausting.

About halfway down the corridor, his grip shifted to place his arm around her shoulder as if it belonged there. "So, Walker, what are you doing for the first Hogsmeade weekend?"

"Actually," said Ellen primly, stepping out from under his arm. "I wanted to ask you about your grandfather. The Bookman?"

He frowned slightly. "What about him?"

"What was his name?" asked Ellen. "I just...I might have known him."

"How old are you?" McLaggen joked, stepping closer to her. "C'mon, you don't really want to talk about some stuffy dead bloke."

"I really do." Ellen insisted as she looked up into his eyes. She could feel her throat begin to tighten up with emotion as she searched his face for any kind of resemblance. It had to be him. "Cormac, please. What was his name?"

"It was Lavi." said McLaggen with a frown. "Lavi Bookman."

It felt like someone had just shoved a dagger into her heart. Ellen's vision blurred as she felt her knees buckle for a moment. So it was him. After so, so many years of wondering and wishing she knew what had happened to her friends, here it was. Here was proof that they had moved on with their lives once she had disappeared. They had families and children. Not a single one of them spared another thought for the girl who had betrayed them without a second guess.

She didn't want to ask, but the words fell from her lips before she could stop them. "I know this is a lot to ask, but could you write your father and see if he left anything? Anything that mentioned someone named Allen?"

"Who is Allen?" He questioned.

"I was." admitted Ellen softly. "Lavi, he...he was my friend. One of my best friends actually. We never got to say goodbye to each other."

McLaggen sighed loudly, as if it was the most inconvenient request. "I suppose I could. But only if you'll go get a Butterbeer with me at the Three Broomsticks."

"Of course I will." She smiled quickly. "Well, my compartment is just ahead. Thank you Cormac, really."

Ellen slipped away from him before he could say another word. Her skin was crawling just being that close to the boy. She could see bits and pieces of Lavi in him, in the downturn of his eyes and the easy way that he grinned, but there was nothing else there. He was too far removed from the friend that she had loved so fiercely. Still, Ellen had gained something from that conversation. She could survive one drink at Hogsmeade with the arrogant boy if it meant that she had a piece of old life back.

But oh, how Tyki was going to be furious.

She stepped into the compartment without another word, quickly changing and sitting back down to sleep until they reached the castle. Ellen slowly drifted off to sleep staring out the window; the last thing she saw before completely slipping away was the reflection of Neah's shadow staring back at her with a malicious grin. Then she was gone and they were at the station.

Ellen stretched as she stood up and peered out the window, seeing Hogwarts in the distance. It was good to be back

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed! Please review and let me know what you think! I'm glad I was able to get this out this fast, but I'm getting into final exams so I'm hoping that won't set me back too much. Thank you all for always supporting this even when updates have been really slow. It means so much!**


	9. IMPORTANT PLS READ

hello all!

sorry to interrupt your not-so-regularly scheduled updates, but i'm going to be honest with you. i've looked over A Glint of White a couple of times and i hate it. i hate the way i wrote it and how rushed it is and how inconsistent ellen's character is.

so i'm going to rewrite it.

BUT!

i want all of your opinions. i'm going to put a poll up on my profile to decide whether or not i should A) just update the chapter of AGoW or B) make a completely new story with the updated version and keep the original AGoW up for those that enjoyed it!

so please please please go vote if you care about this. if not and i'm just bothering you, thank you for reading!

thank you!

megan :)


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